Disney-owned Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever remained No. 1 for a second week on the NPD VideoScan First Alert chart, which tracks combined DVD and Blu-ray Disc unit sales, and the dedicated Blu-ray Disc sales chart the week ended Feb. 18.
The week’s top new release, selling about 27% as many copies as the superhero movie, was director Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical drama The Fabelmans, which was No. 2 on both charts. The Oscar-nominated film tells the story of the family life of a teenager who wants to grow up to become a filmmaker.
Another big new release for the week, Disney’s animated Strange World, debuted at No. 4 on both charts.
No. 3 on both charts was Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick, while No. 5 was Warner’s Black Adam.
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Blu-ray Disc formats accounted for 64% of Fabelmans sales, with 40% from the 4K combo pack and 24% from regular Blu-ray. For Strange World, 52% of unit sales came from Blu-ray formats — 38% from regular Blu-ray and 14% the 4K combo pack.
The Media Play News rental chart for the week ended Feb. 19 had Wakanda Forever in the top spot for the first time. Screen Media’s The Locksmith was No. 2, and The Fabelmans was No. 3.
The previous week’s top rental, Universal’s Violent Night, slid to No. 4, while Black Adam was No. 5.
Top 20 Sellers for Week Ended 2-18-23
Top 20 Rentals for Week Ended 2-19-23
Top 20 Selling Blu-ray Discs for Week Ended 2-18-23
Top 20 Blu-ray Market Share for Week Ended 2-18-23
Sales Report for Week Ended 2-18-23
Digital Transactions Snapshot for Week Ended 2-20-23
Director Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans becomes available to own on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Feb. 14 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Inspired by Spielberg’s own childhood, the drama is a coming-of-age story about a young man uncovering a shattering family secret and the power of film and imagination to help us see the truth about ourselves and each other. The cast includes Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea, My Week With Marilyn), Paul Dano (The Batman, There Will Be Blood), Seth Rogen (Steve Jobs, An American Pickle), Gabriel LaBelle (The Predator, “American Gigolo”) and Academy Award nominee Judd Hirsch (Uncut Gems, Ordinary People). It earned $16.96 million at the domestic box office.
The Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 61st animated feature, Strange World, which earned $37.97 million in North American theaters, becomes available on Blu-ray and DVD Feb. 14. The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray of the film appears to be a Disney Movie Club exclusive, while Best Buy has a 4K Steelbook. Strange World follows a family of explorers, the Clades, as they attempt to navigate an uncharted, treacherous land alongside a motley crew that includes a mischievous blob called Splat; Legend, the family dog; and a slew of ravenous creatures. The voice cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal as Searcher Clade, a family man who finds himself out of his element on an unpredictable mission; Dennis Quaid as Searcher’s larger-than-life explorer father, Jaeger; comedian, actor, writer, filmmaker and musician Jaboukie Young-White as Searcher’s 16-year-old son, Ethan; Gabrielle Union as Meridian Clade, an accomplished pilot and Searcher’s partner in all things; and Lucy Liu as Callisto Mal, Avalonia’s fearless leader who spearheads the exploration into the strange world.
The comedy House Party will be available on Blu-ray Disc and DVD Feb. 14 from New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment. In the reboot of the franchise that spawned from the 1990 movie of the same name, House Party follows aspiring club promoters and best buds Damon (Tosin Cole) and Kevin (Jacob Latimore) who are barely keeping things together. Out of money, down on their luck and about to lose the roofs over their heads — and freshly fired from their low-lift jobs as house cleaners — the pair needs a huge windfall to make their problems go away. In a “what the hell?” move, they decide to host the party of the year at an exclusive mansion, the site of their last cleaning job, which just happens to belong to none other than LeBron James. The film made $8.91 million at the domestic box office.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releases the Pureflix Entertainment sports romance Nothing Is Impossible on DVD and digital Feb. 14. The film follows Scott Beck (David A.R. White), whose life has not gone to plan. Working as the janitor at the high school where he was once the star of the basketball team, he is dealing with an ailing father, a busted truck and memories of Ryan (Nadia Bjorlin), the girl he loved long ago. But opportunity arises when Ryan, now the owner of the Knoxville Silver Knights, decides to hold open tryouts for the team. Scott attempts to make the impossible happen by not only making the team but getting back the woman he loves in this inspiring and winning drama. The film also stars Mark Christopher Lawrence, Robert Amaya, Stella Parton, Leanna Crawford, Steven Bauer and Harry Lennix.
Shout! Factory Feb. 14 releases Shepherd: The Story of A Hero Dog, a historical drama written and directed by Lynn Roth, on Blu-ray Disc, DVD and digitally. Shepherd: The Story of A Hero Dog is set in Germany in the 1930s, when the Nuremberg Laws were passed, which forbade Jews from owning pets. Kaleb, a German Shepherd, is separated from his Jewish family and his beloved 10-year-old master, Joshua. Now alone on the streets, he is captured and eventually adopted by an SS dog trainer at a Nazi work camp, where the dog has now been trained to help round up and terrorize Jewish prisoners. The film was originally released in 2019 under the name Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog. Inspired by real events, the film is adapted from the best-selling and critically hailed novel The Jewish Dog, by Asher Kravitz. The film stars August Maturo as Joshua, Ayelet Zurer and Ken Duken as the SS dog trainer, Ralph.
The South Korean action thriller Project Wolf Hunting debuts on digital, Blu-ray and DVD Feb. 14 from Well Go USA Entertainment. From director Kim Hong-Sun (“Money Heist: Korea — Joint Economic Area”), the film stars Seo In-guk (The Master’s Sun, Hello Monster), Jang Dong-yoon (Search, Mr. Sunshine), Choi Guy-hwa (Train to Busan, The Wailing), Sung Dong-il (The Cursed, The Great Battle), Park Ho-san (The Call, Prison Playbook) and Jung So-min (Alchemy of Souls). In the film, while under heavily armed guard, the dangerous convicts aboard a cargo ship unite in a coordinated escape attempt that soon escalates into a bloody, all-out riot. But as the fugitives continue their brutal campaign of terror, they soon discover that not even the most vicious among them is safe from the horror they unknowingly unleashed from the darkness below deck.
The music drama On the Come Up, the directorial debut of Sanaa Lathan (“Succession”), will be released on DVD Feb. 14 from Paramount Home Entertainment. The film originally debuted on Paramount+. Based on the New York Times No. 1 best-selling novel by Angie Thomas (The Hate U Give), On the Come Up stars newcomer Jamila C. Gray (American Girl) as a gifted 16-year-old rapper, who attempts to take the battle rap scene by storm in order to lift up her family and do right by the legacy of her father — a local hip hop legend whose career was cut short by gang violence. When her first hit song goes viral for all the wrong reasons, she finds herself torn between the authenticity that got her this far and the false persona that the industry wants to impose upon her. The film also stars Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Lost City), Lil Yachty, Sanaa Lathan and Cliff “Method Man” Smith.
The music documentary Blitzed: The ’80s Blitz Kids will be released on DVD Feb. 17 from MVD Entertainment Group. The documentary explores the club where Boy George was the coat check girl (admittedly stealing money from the purses), and Bowie, synth beats, and a new freedom of sexual identity were in the air. The Blitz Club was where a hotbed of talent emerged: Ultravox, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, Sade, and many others. This is the story of a cultural revolution — spawned from a grimy West End club patronized by impoverished but lavishly wardrobed trendsetters, art students and trans slackers. It was a movement that redefined music, fashion and sexual expression. Among the stories: Mick Jagger was turned away from the door for not being well enough dressed. Derided by many, the New Romantics can now claim influence that stretches to the modern wave of synth bands, sounds, gender fluidity and fashion sensibilities that mark the second decade of the 21st century. The music the scene spawned on the dance floor of Egan’s Blitz nightclub in Covent Garden can be heard on dance floors, films and TV soundtracks to this day. Through interviews with key players, current contemporaries, punters and pundits together with archival footage, recreated scenes and original footage, the documentary shows how and why the movement took hold and where it landed today.
Disney will serve up the Searchlight Pictures dark satire The Menu on Blu-ray and DVD Jan. 17. In the film, a young couple (Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travels to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises. The film also stars Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Reed Birney, Judith Light and John Leguizamo. Directed by Mark Mylod, the film earned $38.2 million at the domestic box office.
Universal Pictures releases Till on Blu-ray and DVD Jan. 17. The drama tells the story of Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler), whose pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son Emmett Louis Till (Jalyn Hall) became a key moment in the civil rights movement. It earned $9 million at the domestic box office.
Kino Lorber Jan. 17 releases Utama on DVD, Blu-ray Disc and for digital purchase. The acclaimed international drama is about an elderly couple in the arid highlands of the Andes and the final days of husband Virginio. The film from director Alejandro Loayza Grisi premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2022, where it won the Grand Jury Prize (World Cinema Dramatic). It was released in French theaters in May 2022 and Swiss theaters a month later, with German theaters up next in January 2023. Utama was selected as the Bolivian entry for the 95th Academy Awards as the Best International Feature Film. Set in the Bolivian highlands, Utama is centered on an elderly Quechua couple that has been living a tranquil life for years. While he takes their small herd of llamas out to graze, she keeps house and walks for miles with the other local women to fetch precious water. When an uncommonly long drought threatens everything they know, Virginio and Sisa must decide whether to stay and maintain their traditional way of life or admit defeat and move in with family members in the city. Their dilemma is precipitated by the arrival of their grandson Clever, who comes to visit with news. The three of them must face, each in their own way, the effects of a changing environment, the importance of tradition, and the meaning of life itself.
Kino Lorber Jan. 17 releases the 1986 action thriller No Mercy, with Richard Gere and Kim Basinger, on Blu-ray Disc. Directed by Richard Pearce, the film also stars Jeroen Krabbé George Dzundz, William Atherton, Ray Sharkey, Bruce McGill, Terry Kinney, Gary Basaraba and Marita Geraghty. Gere stars as Eddie Jillette, a tough, uncompromising cop whose vow to avenge his partner’s death draws him into a torrid affair with the only witness, the murderer’s girlfriend. Basinger is Cajun beauty Michel, caught in the war between Gere and vicious crimelord Losado (Krabbé), the man who possesses her. Jillette’s vendetta takes him from the streets of Chicago to the violent underworld of New Orleans, where he abducts Michel to flush out Losado. He escapes into the treacherous bayou with his unwilling captive, but as their pursuers close in and the danger mounts, so does their lust for each other. 
The Japanese classic Big Time Gambling Boss will be released on Blu-ray Disc for the first time Jan. 17 as a limited edition from Radiance Films and MVD Entertainment Group. Originally released in 1968, the film is set in Tokyo in the 1930s, where gang boss Arakawa is ill and a successor must be named. The choice falls on Nakai, but being an outsider he refuses and suggests senior clansman Matsuda instead. But Matsuda is in jail and the elders won’t wait for his release, so they appoint the younger and more malleable Ishido to take the reins. Clan honor and loyalties are severely tested when Matsuda is released, resulting in an increasingly violent internal strife. An atmospheric tale of gangland intrigue written by Kazuo Kasahara (Battles Without Honor and Humanity) and starring Tomisaburo Wakayama (Lone Wolf and Cub, “The Bounty Hunter Trilogy”) and genre legend Koji Tsuruta, Big Time Gambling Boss is a classic of the Yakuza genre.