Powered by first-day sales of 3.1 million units, Buena Vista Home Entertainment’s National Treasure debuted at the top of the sales chart its first week in stores, easily outdistancing the week’s other big new release, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera from Warner Home Video.
The Nicolas Cage-starrer also topped the rental charts, generating an estimated $10.82 million in the week ending May 8. “Phantom of the Opera” finished fourth, with $5.49 million, behind holdovers Meet the Fockers, from Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and Paramount Home Entertainment’s Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Meanwhile, Universal’s In Good Company and Assault on Precinct 13 each sold an estimated 1 million units Tuesday, their first day in stores. In the case of “Assault,” that translates to gross consumer spending of nearly $30 million, 150% more than the film grossed at the boxoffice during its entire theatrical run.
