Frozen

Walt Disney Studios’ “Frozen” is living up to its name. The animated feature appears to be frozen in the No. 1 spot on both national homevideo sales charts, finishing the week ended May 4 on top for the sixth time in seven weeks.

The second spot on both Nielsen VideoScan’s First Alert sales chart, which tracks overall disc sales, DVD and Blu-ray Disc combined, and Nielsen’s dedicated Blu-ray sales chart went to Summit Entertainment’s “The Legend of Hercules,” a theatrical dud that earned only $18.8 million in U.S. theaters on a budget estimated at $70 million. Even so, the live-action film, distributed by Lionsgate, generated 32% of its total unit sales from Blu-ray, the same percentage as “Frozen” in its seventh week of release.

It was a photo finish: “Hercules” sold more than 95% as many discs during the week as “Frozen.”

On the overall disc sales chart, Warner’s “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” crept back up to No. 3 in its fourth week in stores, followed at No. 4 by Universal Studios’ “Ride Along,” which has been in stores for three weeks. Rounding out the top five was Lionsgate’s “Madea’s Neighbors From Hell,” a DVD-only release that bowed the previous week at No. 2.

In addition to “The Legend of Hercules,” two other new releases made it into the First Alert top 20 in their initial week of release. Paramount’s “Labor Day,” a Jason Reitman-helmed and -written drama that stars Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet, rode its $13.4 domestic box office take to a No. 6 First Alert debut. According to Nielsen research, the film — about a single mom and her son who unwittingly give a ride to an escaped con — sold 27% as many units as top-ranked “Frozen” in the week ended May 4.

Twentieth Century Fox’s “Devil’s Due,” a horror film about a mysterious “lost” honeymoon night after which the bride unwittingly finds herself pregnant, debuted at No. 8. The film earned $15.8 million in theaters and sold 23% as many copies as “Frozen.”

“Labor Day” generated 29% of its total unit sales from Blu-ray, Nielsen data shows; “Devil’s Due,” 27%.

On Home Media magazine’s weekly rental chart, Universal Studios’ “47 Ronin” shot to No. 1 now that its 28-day holdback from key rental outlets Netflix and Redbox is over. “The Legend of Hercules” bowed at No. 2, with “Labor Day” debuting at No. 3.

Universal Studios’ “Homefront,” the previous week’s top rental, slipped to No. 4. Rounding out the top five rentals: Paramount’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” down a notch from No. 4 the previous week.

Thomas K. Arnold is editorial director of Home Media Magazine, http://www.homemediamagazine.com.

Top 20 Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart for week of 5/4/2014:

1. “Frozen”
2. “The Legend of Hercules” (new)
3. “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
4. “Ride Along”
5. “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Neighbors from Hell”
6. “Labor Day” (new)
7. “The Nut Job”
8. “Devil’s Due” (new)
9. “The Amazing Spider-Man”
10. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
11. “The Wolf of Wall Street”
12. “The Pirate Fairy”
13. “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”
14. “Rio”
15. “Despicable Me 2″
16. “47 Ronin”
17. “August: Osage County”
18. “American Hustle”
19. “Philomena”
20. “12 Years a Slave”

Top 10 Home Media Magazine rental chart for week of 5/4/2014:

1. “47 Ronin”
2. “The Legend of Hercules” (new)
3. “Labor Day” (new)
4. “Homefront”
5. “The Wolf of Wall Street”
6. “Frozen”
7. “Walking with Dinosaurs: The Movie”
8. “Grudge Match”
9. “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”
10. “12 Years a Slave”

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