New Moon DVD distribution being done differently than Twilight

Last year, the Twilight DVD sold over three million copies in its very first day on the market, making it among the "Top Five Best First Day Releases in Two Years."

Within a few weeks, the film became the number one selling DVD of the year.

According to Home Media Magazine, total sales for the year reached over nine million, and the distribution studio, Summit Entertainment, expects that the numbers will be similar for The Twilight Saga: New Moon's DVD (due March 20th).

"We are looking at the 9.2 million in Twilight sales as our fan base, and that is how we are planning around New Moon," the company's home entertainment president, Steve Nickerson, told the publication.

Though the overall expectations and plans for distribution remain the same, there are a few, more than minor details being shifted.

For one, Home Media Magazine continues, there will not be a one-disc DVD version of New Moon available for commercial sale. "The studio will bow a single-DVD version of New Moon that will include few bonus features, but just into the rental channel." Additionally, there will not be various versions offered to the differing vendors like there was last year.

However, the studio is banking on a wider demographic - meaning more men (cough) - for their Blu-Ray disc sales.

Last year, just 3% of Twilight sales were Blu-ray, noted Nickerson. That is well below the 12% to 15% average Blu-ray sales portion for many 2009 new releases. But Summit projects that interest will rise in 2010 for New Moon in high-def.

“Because of the female-driven nature of the franchise, the amount of Blu-ray sales was less significant on Twilight than it was for other films of other genres,” Nickerson said. “And that will still be the case this year [for New Moon]. But Blu-ray has really grown in the last year. It’s big enough that all retailers want to be able to sell the product. Look at all the circulars, every title cover shot now shows the Blu-ray version.”

Others speculate that the reason there were low sales numbers for the high definition version of Twilight last year was because it wasn't available in all venues. Says Blu-Ray.com, "it can be argued that Wal-Mart and Amazon initially not carrying the BD didn't help either."

One way or the other, things are indeed a-changing for the home media distribution of this franchise. Note that the one-disc version has been seen for sale in other countries, including the U.K..

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