The facts: The Dark Knight is the best selling Blu-ray disc in the format’s two-year history. Warner Bros. sold more than 1.7 million copies of the film since its Dec. 9 release.
The circumstances: It’s the holiday shopping season. More people have Blu-ray players, or will have Blu-ray players sitting underneath the Christmas tree, now than when Iron Man or 300 came out. The Dark Knight is the top grossing movie of 2008, besting Iron Man by some $200 million. Hence, more interest in watching the film on Blu-ray disc.
The spin: This is the press release that Warner Bros. sent out, announcing to the world that, yes, The Dark Knight sold well. I’ve underlined spin, weasel words and other goodies that populate the release. (Hi-res version here.) For example, why would Warner Bros. use the word “remarkable” to describe activation of the digital copy when 300,000 units represents slightly more than 2 percent of the 13.5 million sold? And for that matter, if the purpose of the release is to trumpet Blu-ray sales, why even bother to include the 13.5 million total sales?
I am bored, yes.