X-Men kick-starts DVD fourth quarter

LOS ANGELES—The fourth quarter got off to a bang in the home video world this week, with both high-profile DVD releases that hit stores Tuesday -- "X-Men: The Last Stand" and "The Little Mermaid" -- exceeding sales expectations.
Industry sources peg combined consumer spending on the titles to be more than $80 million, making Tuesday the biggest fourth-quarter opening day in the history of home video.
Industry sources put first-day sales of Fox's "X-Men" at 2.6 million units and Disney's "Mermaid" at 1.6 million units. Those figures include sales to rental dealers.
"X-Men" is the biggest October DVD debut ever, and "Mermaid" is the biggest animated DVD debut for October.
"It's an encouraging sign that we're opening the fourth quarter with one new title and one classic doing solid numbers," said industry analyst Tom Adams, president of Adams Media Research.
The strong start to the fourth quarter comes in the wake of reports that the DVD business is picking up again after a lengthy slump. The year-over-year consumer spending gap, which stood at 3.7% at the midyear point, narrowed to 1.2% by the end of the third quarter, and the latest projections from Adams Media Research indicate consumer spending for the year could finish in positive territory.—Agencies