It’s Full Speed Ahead for ‘Titanic’ Video Launch

Exact sales figures aren’t in yet, but it appears “Titanic” is destined to repeat its blockbuster status on video.

“It’s doing phenomenal,” says Brant Skogrand, spokesperson for Musicland Stores Corp., which includes the Suncoast Motion Picture, Sam Goody, Media Play and On Cue stores with a total of 1,341 locations. “Through our reservations line we have two-thirds more orders than our previous record-holder ‘The Lion King.’ ”

The “Titanic” video went on sale midnight Monday. For their midnight sales, Skogrand reports “we had people lined up at 8 p.m.” The company’s Media Play store in St. Cloud, Minn., even set up a drive-in theater in the parking lot to show “Titanic.”

Business seemed just as brisk Tuesday morning. “For our stores that opened this morning, we had people waiting outside the gates for the doors to open,” Skogrand says.

Blockbuster, with about 4,000 locations, sold 1 million copies in pre-sales alone. District manager Tammy Tinen says “Titanic” is doing “fabulous” business at local Blockbuster stores, pointing out there were as many as 400 people in line at midnight to purchase the video at Los Angeles-area stores. “It’s overwhelming,” she says. “It’s like a new ride at Disneyland for us. We’re looking forward to the rest of the week.”

Best Buy reported that “Titanic” performed above expectations at its midnight sales. “It was a huge success,” says spokesperson Laurie Bauer. “We sold 50,000 copies. We are extremely pleased.”

Dorit Ragosine, a spokesperson for Paramount Home Video that is distributing “Titanic,” reports that nationwide “the midnight sales went real well. A store in Canada sold out. Blockbuster has had great success, so midnight sales events were definitely well-attended.”

Reel.com, which is offering the video for $9.99 via the Internet--the average retail price is about $19.98--broke records Monday with 18,000 orders. From 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday, the company had taken orders for 4,500 copies, which is another record. CEO Julie Wainwright reports that the company had problems with its phone lines Tuesday morning because it was receiving so many thank you calls from customers who had received the video.