PLAY.COM Online Home Entertainment Report

19th May 2005 for w/c 23th May

Play.com is the UK’s favourite online home entertainment retailer and has over 30 per cent market share for DVDs, Games and Music (Hitwise data).

All the information contained is based on actual PLAY.COM sales.

Next week online

Let the (Merchandising) Force be with you!

Star Wars fever has taken over. The release of the final film in the double trilogy has sparked renewed interest in all things Star Wars. StarWars: Clone Wars is at number two in the DVD sales charts and Star Wars Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is at the top of the games charts. At PLAY.COM there are an amazing 256 Star Wars items available, from Darth Vader mugs through to soundtracks and Light Sabers. For real followers of the force you can collect:

2 Audio books

9 DVDs

14 CDs

35 Games

38 Gadgets/ gifts

158 Books

DVDs

Last week’s PLAY.COM Top Ten Best Sellers.

1. Phantom Of The Opera - (2004)

2. Star Wars: Clone Wars – Vol 1 Animated

3. Meet the Fockers

4. Dodgeball - A True Underdog Story

5. House of the Flying Daggers - (2 discs)

6. White Noise

7. Meet the Fockers/ Meet the Parents (Box set)

8. Blade Trinity – Extended version

9. Angel (TV) – Season 5 Box Set

10. Friends - Series 10 Box Set (3 Discs)

New releases to watch out for w/c 23th May

1. Team America – World Police

2. Oceans Twelve (12)

3. Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events: Special Edition

DVD Feature

Kids films

With Dr Who controversially being given a 12 certificate, we have taken a look at the kids favourite films that do have the PG classification. It looks as through Lemoney Snicket will very quickly take the top spot as pre-orders have been growing for this film, but at the moment SpongeBob Square Pants Movie is the top seller. However we probably would not have predicted that Ghostbusters would be at number two, ahead of Incredibles! The top five best selling kids films at the moment are:

1. SpongeBob Square Pants Movie

2. Ghostbusters

3. The Incredibles

4. The Goonies

5. The Princess Bride

CDs

Last week’s PLAY.COM Top Ten Best Sellers.

1. Basement Jaxx – The Singles

2. Nine Inch Nails – With Teeth

3. System of a Down – Mezmerize

4. Weezer – Make Believe

5. Kaiser Chiefs – Employment

6. Gwen Stefani – Love, Angel, Music, Baby

7. Bruce Springsteen – Devils and Dust

8. Eels – Blinking Lights And Other Revelations

9. Athlete – Tourist

10. Robert Plant – Mighty Rearranger



New releases to watch out for w/c 23th May

1. Audio Slave – Out of Exile

2. Gorrilaz – Demon Days (With Bonus DVD)

3. The Coral – The Invisible Invasion



CD Feature

It is no surprise that the best selling movie soundtrack at the moment is John Williams Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. John Williams and Star Wars is also at the number three spot in the chart. The top five favourite movie soundtracks are

1. John Williams Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

2. Various soundtracks – Music from O.C. mix 4

3. John Williams Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

4. Various soundtracks – Ultimate Disney

5. Grease



Books

This week’s PLAY.COM Top Ten Best Sellers:

1. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – A Trilogy In Four Parts – Douglas Adams

2. The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown

3. I Can Make You Thin – Paul Mckenna

4. The Times Su Doku: The Number Placing Puzzle – Wayne Gould

5. The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom

6. Elvis – Priscilla Presley; Lisa Marie Presley

7. Artemis Fowl The Opal Deception – Eion Colfer

8. A Long Way Down – Nick Hornby

9. The Tiger’s Child – Torey Hayden

10. Angels and Demons – Dan Brown

New releases to watch out for:

1. 4 Inches – Jimmy Choos/ Supermodels/ Cartier and not much else – for charity

2. World According To Clarkson – Jeremy Clarkson

3. Fat – Rob Grant



Book Feature

Audio books have a Sci-fi bias

Last week the top five best selling audio books were all sci-fi based. The Hitchhiker’s Guide filled the top three spots and Doctor Who the remaining two places. The on screen (large and small) popularity of both is very clear. The top five audio books are:

1. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Tertiary Phase

2. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Secondary Phase

3. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Primary Phase

4. Doctor Who – Project Who?

5. Doctor Who – The Crusade



Games

Last week’s PLAY.COM Best Sellers:

PC Guild Wars

Half Life 2

World Of Warcraft

PS2 Star Wars Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

Viewtiful Joe

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Xbox Forza Motorsport

Star Wars Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

Championship Manager 5

Play recommends

As the new Xbox and Playstation are unveiled gamesters will be looking to upgrade their kit – but at the moment they will have to make do with their existing hardware. The focus on Star Wars continues on PS2 and PC, but Xbox users are getting sporty with Forza Motorsport selling extremely well and Championship Manager 5 providing footy fans with something to do in the off season!

Gadgets/ Electronics

Last week’s PLAY.COM Best Sellers:

Gadgets - Powerball Neon Blue Pro

LIVEWRONG Wristband

Keep A Child Alive Wristband

Electronics Play.com 256MB MP3 / WMA Player With Voice Recorder

Play.com USB 2.0 Flash Drive 256mb

Credit card size digital camera

Play recommends

One item is gaining a lot of interest at the moment, the new professional paintball starter pack with a top of the range Viewloader Orion Semi-Automatic Paintball Gun - those that know, say that this is a must have item!

10° Milano Film Festival
Milan, 16 - 25 September 2005
Piccolo Teatro Strehler, Moats of the Castello Sforzesco

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Ten days are left to submit a film to Milano Film Festival
The competition collects and selects short and feature films from all over the world and is open to films of any genre, running time, language and format, provided that they have been produced after January 1st 2004. The selected directors will be invited to Milan (information and rules on the web site www.milanofilmfestival.it). The submission deadline is May 31, 2005, one month earlier than in the past last year the selection jury received the amazing number of 2000 films. This is just the first change introduced for the tenth edition, for the first of 10 and more editions to come.

THE ARTISTIC PROGRAMME
The film project will be further enhanced, as a result of a year of commitment in the search for and distribution of films from all over the world. Special consideration will be paid to filmmakers depicting unknown stories and cultures, to independent productions that are usually ignored by commercial circuits. In particular, the aim is to focus on those countries that manage to produce films despite their economic, political and social difficulties, such as the Middle East. Furthermore, larger participation of feature films will be encouraged.

A FESTIVAL FOR THE CITY.
The artistic project is complemented by activities aiming to favour the participation of the festival in the life of the city and to interact with all the citizens not only of film buffs. Peculiar urban installations will transform public space the real venue for collective events. Beside the Teatro Strehler and the moats of the Castello Sforzesco, new prestigious spaces will be involved.

A WIDE-RANGING EVENT.
Once again the festival will feature a large number of side events, as a further proof of its ability in gathering art, celebration, culture and public participation: retrospectives, seminars, out-of-competition screenings, non-stop events, workshops, meetings, concerts, exhibitions and activities for students, children and elders. From early in the morning to late at night, hundreds of events within the event, including those specially organised to celebrate the tenth edition, will contribute to create a festival that is not an occasion limited to film buffs and members of the film industry, but a place where cinema merges with other contemporary forms of expression and becomes part of a lively and universal language.

Milano Film Festival
Via Paladini, 8
20133 Milano - Italy
Tel/fax: +39 02 713 613
www.milanofilmfestival.it
media@milanofilmfestival.it