Time Warner Inc (TWX), Sony Corporation (ADR) (SNE), News Corp (NWS): Outside Theaters, Moviegoers Spend Dollars Here

Catching a tiger by the tail, the movie Life of Pi was the most-rented DVD and Blu-ray movie in the week ending April 14, according to the latest statistics released by media tracking firm Rentrak Corporation (NASDAQ:RENT).

Distributed by News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS).‘s 20th Century Fox subsidiary, Pi took the top spot after being in release for five weeks, according to Rentrak’s Retail Essentials and Home Video Essentials tracking services, which are based on estimated consumer spending data. It has garnered more than $124.5 million in domestic box office sales since its release last November, while raking in more than $484 million in foreign box office sales, according to Box Office Mojo.

The No. 2 film in Rentrak’s Top 10 rentals for the week ending April 14, was Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE)‘s  Zero Dark Thirty, which has been in release for four weeks, followed by Lincoln, distributed by The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)‘s Buena Vista subsidiary. It has three weeks in release under its belt.

Zero Dark Thirty, which chronicles the Navy Seal team that killed Osama Bin Laden, has generated more than $108.7 million in worldwide box office sales, according to Box Office Mojo, while the retelling of the 16th president’s life has garnered almost $267 million.

Meanwhile, in the world of DVD and Blu-ray sales, the Bible, often described as one of the best-selling books of all time, is also now one of the best-selling DVDs, too.

The Bible: The Epic Mini Series, distributed by News Corp (NASDAQ:NWS).’s 20th Century Fox subsidiary, took the top spot in DVD and Blu-ray sales for the week ending April 14, according Rentrak Corporation (NASDAQ:RENT). With two weeks in release, its Retail Essentials and Home Video Essentials tracking services found the biblical story the top-selling disc. The website Deadline.com reports the miniseries’ producer, Mark Burnett, plans on recutting The Bible into a three-hour theatrical release.

The No. 2 film in sales in Rentrak’s Top 10 for the week ending April 14 is Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX) subsidiary Warner Brothers’ The Hobbitt, An Unexpected Journey, which has been in release for four weeks. Lincoln came in third on this list.

Rentrak’s Retail Essentials measures weekly consumer sales activity on standard DVD and Blu-ray disc titles in the U.S. brick-and-mortar channel while Home Video Essentials is a proprietary rental point-of-sale tracking system, which calculates performance of more than 65,000 DVD and video game titles in the brick‑and‑mortar, by-mail and online subscription, and kiosk channels across North America.

link

The article Outside Theaters, Movie-Watchers Spend Their Money on “Life of Pi” and “The Bible” originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Rich Duprey has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS). The Motley Fool owns shares of Walt Disney.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.