Meanwhile, Tyler Perry’s blockbuster Madea franchise moved to Netflix in one of the streamer’s most significant franchise acquisitions, with “A Madea Homecoming” immediately taking the top position. The interesting play here is that Janus, whose 179-minute Japanese arthouse title is approaching a stunning $2 million in gross, and score four key nominations including Best Picture, is skipping the higher return PVOD price, usually $19.99. But this makes sense – the audience to pay the higher rate for the rarefied, less known subtitled film is likely limited.
But with its Oscar elevation, a lower price should encourage more viewers to take a chance. And for — in normal film terms — its very low expense to Janus means even $2 million — their share of a $5.99 charge — if 500,000 people rented it would be a big deal. As for the VOD audience, it could use some fresh titles. This week’s charts reflect a rehash of titles, some with new pricing. The top spots went to “Sing” (Universal/$24.99) at Vudu, “House of Gucci” (United Artists/$5.99 at iTunes), and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (Sony/$5.99) at Google Play. This is the first #1 for “Gucci,” thanks to a lower price this week. “Ghostbusters” had a three-week run at #1 after it also went to $5.99. With its very high price, “Sing 2” has the edge at Vudu with its accounting by revenue. It previously topped the charts last month when it was released during its third weekend in theaters. Compared to the 2016 franchise starter, “Sing 2” generated about 60 percent of the box-office gross. This weekend, 10 weeks in, the sequel was #6 in theaters. This dual performance is a standout example of a film working both in theaters and on early-release PVOD. “Sing 2” didn’t make all VOD charts, however. Along with “Gucci” and “Ghostbusters,” there’s “Dune” (Warner Bros./$5.99), “American Underdog” (Lionsgate, just reduced to $5.99), “The King’s Man” (Disney, deep reduction to $3.99 as it hits Hulu and HBO Max), and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” (Sony/$5.99). Sabrina Lantos
In total, only 15 titles charted and “The Desperate Hour” (Vertical/$6.99) was the only new release. Directed by Philip Noyce and starring Naomi Watts as a woman desperately trying to find her child in a locked-down town (Metacritic: 35, with limited theaters this weekend), it managed #10 at iTunes. Netflix recently announced a $45 million influx into French film production and the streamer’s #2 is the original French thriller “Restless.” The rest of the top 10 largely repeats last week’s titles. Its “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” remake, initially #1, dropped to #7 this week. iTunes and Google Play rank films daily by number of transactions. These are the listings for February 28. Distributors listed are current rights owners.
iTunes
Google Play
Vudu
Vudu ranks by revenue, not transactions, which elevates Premium VOD titles. This list covers February 21-27.
Netflix Movies
Most viewed, current ranking on Netflix’s daily chart on Monday, February 28; originals include both Netflix-produced and -acquired titles they initially presented in the U.S. Netflix publishes its own weekly top ten on Tuesdays based on time viewed.
