Premium VOD Dominates FandangoNOW Top 10, Led by ‘The Invisible Man’
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The public is watching current movies in large (but uncertain) numbers at home. But a key question is how they are performing in terms of relative revenue draw even as we (unlike box office grosses) we don’t get exact figures. Fandango just released their weekly chart of the last seven days, and it is filled with interesting information supplementing our reports on iTunes, Amazon Prime, and Spectrum charts that only list by number of transactions without distinction among the diverse pricing they have.
Here is the Fandango top 10, which like traditional box office ranking is based on revenue (though actual amount not reported) :
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The Invisible Man (Universal) – $19.99
Onward (Disney) – $19.99
Bloodshot (Sony) – $19.99
Birds of Prey (Warner Bros.) – $19.99
Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony) – $4.99
1917 (Universal) – $5.99
I Still Believe (Lionsgate) – $19.99
The Way Back (Warner Bros.) – $19.99
Dolittle (Universal) – $19.99
The Hunt (Universal) – $19.99
Fandango is best known as a movie theater ticket sales site, one that often provides prescient advance word on what the public is buying ahead of opening weekends. It also operates transactional VOD service FandangoNOW, a portal through which consumers buy or rent movies similar to other providers. The chart tracks total revenues among all titles and covers a seven-day period starting at 3 AM Eastern Time Sunday. When released on Mondays, it comes close to presenting real-time data.
Eight of their top 10 titles are higher-priced premium VOD titles, with all of them at $19.99, three to four times more than standard current release VOD entries. So it is not surprising that with that much extra cost, they’d dominate.
What is of note is their order. “The Invisible Man,” the top initial film announced two weeks ago when Universal initiated this free-for-all (though not in price!) remains ahead in the list, even with new titles added since then. “The Hunt” made it at #10. “Onward” was the third premium title to play all seven days. Getting out early seems to have helped these titles as other studios scrambled to catch up.
Likely slightly affecting their numbers was the Tuesday release for “Bloodshot,” “Birds of Prey,” “The Way Back,” and “Dolittle.” “I Still Believe” debuted on Friday, so it had only three days’ play, and its placement at #7 likely suggests it should rise higher and soon.
The strength of two slightly older (and less expensive) titles – “Jumanji: The Next Level” and “1917” at #5 and 6 is consistent with what we have been seeing at other charts ranking by purchase totals rather than revenue. But this chart suggests their strength as they beat out all but four movies in money brought in.
“Bloodshot” and “Birds of Prey” stood out above most of the rest at #3 and 4. The Vin Diesel-starred opened on March 13, the last weekend before mass theater closings, while “Birds” was in its sixth week already and had been available had much more viewing already. (“Onward” in its second week had been #1; “I Still Believe” was a close third). The order here among the premium films, taking into account their earlier performance and how recent their release was seem to yield limited surprises. And the strength of family films with antsy kids at home also should be no surprise.
Some titles that have appeared elsewhere among the premium VOD titles — “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “Emma.,” “The Gentlemen,” “Call of the Wild,” and “Downhill” — didn’t show with in some cases later release and lower but still higher prices also possible factors.
“Bad Boys for Life” (Sony) and “Sonic the Hedgehog” (Paramount) are available on Tuesday for at $19.99. “Brahms: The Boy II” (STX) comes out Friday for $9.99
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