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'King Kong' DVD Scares Up $100 Million in First Week Sales

Posted on: Tuesday, 4 April 2006, 12:03 CDT

LOS ANGELES -- The computer-animated critters of "Ice Age" were not the only animals providing good news for a Hollywood studio on Monday. The DVD for "King Kong" scared up $100 million in revenues and broke a record for Universal Studios' home video group.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment said more than 6.5 million DVDs were sold in the first six days "Kong" was on retail shelves, making it the best-selling DVD ever for Universal in its initial release.

News of "Kong" DVD sales comes a day after Twentieth Century Fox's computer animated family film "Ice Age: The Meltdown," hauled in an estimated $70.5 million at domestic box offices for the best opening weekend of a movie this year. It earned another $43.4 million in international markets.

"Meltdown," which follows the adventures of a group of prehistoric animals, is the sequel to the 2002 Fox hit "Ice Age."

The "Kong" DVD debut contrasts to the theater box office opening in December, when "Kong" earned $66 million at U.S. and Canadian box offices in its first five days. That was short of the roughly $75 million Universal thought it might bring.

Still, the movie, which was directed by "Lord of the Rings" Oscar winner Peter Jackson, generated a total $217 million at domestic box offices throughout its entire run and another $329 internationally for a total $546 million. It is the fourth-biggest movie release ever in Universal's history.

Universal Pictures and Universal Home Entertainment are divisions of the NBC Universal, which is 80 percent owned by General Electric Co. and 20 percent by France's Vivendi Universal. Twentieth Century Fox is a unit of News Corp.

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