The RIO celebration has given wing to prospects for an endless summer, with the colorful, musical family adventure from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment setting home video history as the biggest selling family title ever for an August release in its Blu-ray and DVD debut.
Sales of RIO exceeded 2.5 million units in its first six days, the company announced today. Premium two-disc DVD and Blu-ray combo packs represented 40 percent of retail sales.
Riding the success of a multi-faceted marketing campaign that took over land, sea and air, including a raucous, bossa nova jamfest and Blu-ray and DVD launch party with the legendary Sergio Mendes last week in Glendale, Calif., the family-friendly title is tracking to be among Fox Home Entertainment’s most successful in 2011.
“The film’s appeal is infectious,” said Mary Daily, Executive Vice President, Marketing, North America, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. “RIO’s wonderful, original mix of vivid characters, colorful backdrops and energizing music proved a powerful draw for families at the box office, earning nearly $500 million worldwide, and now it is flying off store shelves.’’
In addition to an overflow of compelling extras on the Blu-ray, Fox Home Entertainment launched the “RIO Coloring with Blu” app. The fun and interactive app brings the memorable characters in the film to your fingertips, combining color and imagination. Users can color their favorite RIO characters and backgrounds on their iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or Android. Their finished art can then be printed out using AirPrint or shared on Facebook and other social networking sites.
RIO’s strong performance on Blu-ray, which provides consumers with exclusive access to unlock never-before-played bonus levels of the smash video game hit Angry Birds Rio®, underscores the format’s broad appeal for families. The Digital Entertainment Group reported Friday that the number of U.S. households with at least one Blu-ray Disc playback device rose 16% in the first six months of 2011 to bring total household penetration to more than 31.6 million, making the format one of the fastest-growing new technologies in the home entertainment industry.
“RIO’s incredible color and sound plays to Blu-ray’s primary value proposition – replicating the theatrical experience in the home,’’ Daily said.
RIO’s spirited fun and Carnival-appeal infused a differentiated, inclusive marketing effort leading to the title’s home entertainment debut. In addition to a mix of television advertising and other media, the effort included 75 beach and mall takeovers across the U.S., promotional tie-ins with Capri Sun, Chiquita, Little Debbie, Applebees and others that contributed to more than 1 billion consumer impressions, and the formal kickoff concert with Sergio Mendes.
Mendes contributed his musical styling to the RIO soundtrack, and his appearance kicking off Americana at Brand’s summer concert series attracted over 7,000 people – the most well-attended event ever at the popular mall. Mendes also played with the The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on RIO’s street date.