BLADE RUNNER 2049 Redeems Its Underwhelming Box Office With Impressive Blu-ray & DVD Sales
Blade Runner 2049 earned only $259.2 million during its theatrical run, but the sci-fi sequel from director Denis Villeneuve has found new life in its home video sales totaling $21.7 million in 2018.
Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049 may have been well-received by fans and critics alike, but it unfortunately flopped for Warner Bros. at the box office. The long-awaited sequel, which featured the return of Harrison Ford alongside newcomer Ryan Gosling, finished its theatrical run with just $92 million in the United States and a worldwide total of just $259.2 million. But while the film struggled to break even at the box office, it seems to have found a second wind thanks to home video sales.
According to industry data and research outlet The Numbers, Blade Runner 2049 has pulled in an impressive $21.7 million in home video sales so far in 2018, second only to IT's $30.9 million. Blade Runner 2049, which opened October 2017, was released on DVD on December 26, 2017, followed by a Blu-ray release on January 16, 2018. Around 978,917 copies have been sold, with the numbers breaking down to around $3.7 million in DVD and $17.99 million in Blu-ray sales. While it has technically sold less total units than IT (1.44 million units) and Wonder (1.04 million units) this year, it is actually second in total revenue. IT leads all home releases with around $30.9 million in consumer spending.
Although Blade Runner 2049 struggled at the box office, its home video sales shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. After all, the original Blade Runner from Ridley Scott also bombed at the box office when it released in 1982 and then went on to become a cult phenomenon. Blade Runner 2049 was also a weird outlier in the sense that it performed remarkably well on Rotten Tomatoes with an 87% critic score and 81% audience score. So what gives?
If you ask director Denis Villeneuve, it could've been the fact that people were not too familiar with the Blade Runner universe. Or, with a 2 hour 44 minute run time, perhaps it was too long for people to sit through at the movies. Maybe they are more comfortable watching a movie of that length at home. Whatever the reason, it's nice to see Blade Runner 2049 finally finding some success because it truly was one of 2017's best movies.
Did you see Blade Runner 2049 in theaters or did you wait for home release? If the latter, let us know why in the comments below!