The hyperactive CG-animated animals of DreamWorks Animation’s Over the Hedge are proving to be hot items on DVD this week. The Paramount Home Entertainment-distributed title delivered an estimated $65 million in sales and raced to the top spot on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart, for the week ending Oct. 22, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In addition, the early summer hit did well in rental stores, arriving at No. 4 for the week on the Home Media Retailing’s video rental chart, with approximately $6.9 million in rental greens.
Based on the comic strip of the same name by Michael Fry and T. Lewis, Over the Hedge was directed by Tim Johnson (Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Antz) and first-timer Karey Kirkpatrick, a writer whose credits include The Rescuers Down Under, James and the Giant Peach, Chicken Run and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The film brought in $318 million in worldwide ticket sales over the summer. The DVD also includes a new short Hammy’s Boomerang Adventure, starring the hyperactive squirrel character voiced by Steve Carell. The short’s director, Will Finn, a storyboard artist on Over the Hedge, provides optional commentary. Other DVD extra features include feature commentary by Johnson, Kirkpatrick and producer Bonnie Arnold; a Verm-Tech Institute Infomercial with exterminator Dwayne LaFontant; and the featurettes Behind The Hedge featurette, Meet The Cast and The Tech of Over The Hedge.
Hedge is joined by Buena Vista’s The Little Mermaid special 2-disc release which is No. 4 on the First Alert chart three weeks after its debut. Other toon and vfx-related titles on the chart include Fox’s X-Men: The Last Stand (No. 5), Buena Vista’s Fox and the Hound (No. 8) and Fox’s surprisingly popular summer hit, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (No. 9). Universal’s Curious George feature is also holding up quite well on the DVD sales chart at No. 7.
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