>'Mummy'Sequel Unwraps $90 Mil in Video

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - 'The Mummy Returns' returned with a vengeance as consumers spent a record $90 million on purchase and rental of VHS and DVD versions of the hit sequel in its opening week, according to data issued Tuesday.

That's a 33% bigger opening on video than `The Mummy Returns' ` $68.1 million theatrical opening in May -- the third-biggest of the year.

The news came on what could be the biggest single day in the four-year history of DVD, all of which leads into what will certainly be an unprecedented fourth quarter for video sales. On Tuesday, Disney released `Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' and Paramount released `The Godfather' trilogy.

Disney is believed to have shipped more than 4 million copies of `Snow White' to retailers, just shy of the record-breaking 4.5 million units Universal delivered of `The Mummy Returns.'

Although Paramount shipped fewer than 2 million units of 'The Godfather,' the five-disc set was selling in most stores for about $70, about three times the price of the other two double-disc sets. Paramount said some stores sold out their entire `Godfather' order on the first day.

Universal reported that `The Mummy Returns,' released a week earlier on Oct. 2, sold more than 2 million DVD copies to consumers in the first week, surpassing last year's DVD sales of `Gladiator,' a DreamWorks title distributed by Universal. Even more copies of `The Mummy Returns' were sold on VHS.

Total combined VHS and DVD sales of `The Mummy Returns' were 70% greater than video sales of the original `The Mummy' in 1999.

First week rentals of `The Mummy Returns' were also big, with consumers spending $15.4 million on VHS and DVD copies, according to the VSDA VidTrac data tracking service.

``This is just an explosion,'' said Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Video. ``This is significantly stronger than anyone at the studio expected.''

With upcoming blockbusters during the holidays like `Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas,' `Jurassic Park III' and DreamWorks' `Shrek,' Universal expects its titles to generate nearly as much money cumulatively this fourth quarter as the entire industry amassed last year.

``Thanksgiving should just be phenomenally jawbreaking,'' Kornblau said.

John Thrasher, VP of video at Tower Records and Video, said the chain sold 50% of all its copies of `The Mummy Returns' in the first week. He expects to do well with `The Godfather', too, because of previous success with the VHS version and the boxed set of `The Sopranos' also a pricier item with a mob theme.

Reuters/Variety