2021 marked a record low for the movie industry when it came to physical media sales, aided in no small part by several studios’ decision to go day-and-date with theatrical and streaming releases, or in some cases forego theatrical releases entirely in favour of PVOD releases direct to our sofas.
Tracking site The Numbers has now released details of the best-selling DVD and Blu-ray releases for the past twelve months and, somewhat ironically, it is topped by the very movie that kicked off Warner Bros.’ HBO Max release strategy back in December 2020.
As revealed by The Numbers, the Gal Gadot-led sequel Wonder Woman 1984 was the biggest-selling DVD and Blu-ray release in the United States in 2021, shifting a combined 1,429,829 units for a total consumer spending haul of $34.5 million. Here’s the top ten:
| Rank | Title | Units Sold | Total Consumer Spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wonder Woman 1984 | 1,429,829 | $34,496,366 |
| 2 | The Croods: A New Age | 1,264,770 | $27,268,880 |
| 3 | Godzilla vs. Kong | 921,584 | $26,741,761 |
| 4 | Raya and the Last Dragon | 920,480 | $21,471,250 |
| 5 | Monster Hunter | 576,010 | $12,992,083 |
| 6 | News of the World | 567,404 | $12,772,830 |
| 7 | Soul | 548,299 | $11,490,485 |
| 8 | Harry Potter: The Complete Collection Years 1-7 | 547,381 | $23,468,372 |
| 9 | John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum | 503,545 | $9,137,137 |
| 10 | Tenet | 495,253 | $12,822,671 |
Overall, the numbers don’t make for good reading for those of us who still like to hold our movies in our hands, with the entire top ten titles shifting just 7.75 million units between them in 2021, compared to 22.1 million units in 2020 and 30.5 million in 2019.