Pirates Beats The Matrix on Blu-ray Disc

Two franchises had a next generation battle last week.

In a story from The Hollywood Reporter, Buena Vista Home Entertainment released Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl and Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest on Blu-ray disc May 22.

Not to be outdone, Warner Bros. brought The Ultimate Matrix Collection and The Complete Matrix Trilogy out on HD-DVD that same day.

During that week, consumers paid out $2 million between both those release. "The two Pirates films sold a combined total of a little less than 47,000 units, while the higher-priced Matrix sets sold about 13,900 units."

However, those numbers don't tell the whole story. "In dollars there was more parity because the single-disc Pirates releases fetched about $25 in stores, while the Matrixsets, each with all three movies in the franchise, were priced significantly higher. The five-disc The Ultimate Matrix Collection lists for $119.99, while The Complete Matrix Trilogy (three discs) goes for $99.99."

Still, don't think that that has stopped Buena Vista's worldwide president Bob Chapek from claiming "a strong and significant trend toward consumer preference for the Blu-ray Disc format."

Currently, while Blu-ray appears to have the lead both formats seem to have audiences. On top of that, many credit this format war with driving down prices of players and the software, all of which ultimately benefits the consumer.

Dont't forget to also check out: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Matrix