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The Revenue Force is With Sith DVD and Battlefront II Game

In just one week of release, STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH on DVD and the STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II videogame brought in sales of $210 million in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia and Latin America, capping a record-breaking year for the STAR WARS franchise.

The two newest STAR WARS home entertainment releases debut in four more major international markets through Nov. 23.

Jim Ward, svp of Lucasfilm Ltd. and president of LucasArts, said, The phenomenal sales underscore the enduring strength of the series. In many territories, DVD and game sales were nearly double what we initially expected. Consumers are clearly eager to experience the movie again in pristine DVD quality and to immerse themselves in the STAR WARS universe by playing STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II.

In fact, STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II is poised to overtake last years original STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT as the franchises best-selling videogame of all time, with first-week sales 40% ahead of its predecessor.

Meanwhile, this follows on the heels of REVENGE OF THE SITH taking in $380 million in U.S. theaters and $468 million internationally, becoming the worldwide No. 1 movie of the year.

But the popularity of STAR WARS goes well beyond cinema and home entertainment. The NPD Group recently reported that STAR WARS is the most popular toy property by far, with 9.1% of the entire U.S. toy market heading into the key holiday period, outselling its nearest rival by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

STAR WARS was the most popular Halloween costume line in 2005, and around the world an unprecedented four specially created museum exhibits celebrating STAR WARS are running simultaneously. On Thursday, even Donald Trump will enter the STAR WARS universe as NBC airs a special STAR WARS-themed version of THE APPRENTICE.

Lucasfilm Ltd. is one of the worlds leading film and entertainment companies. Founded by George Lucas in 1971, it is a privately held, fully integrated entertainment company. In addition to its motion picture and television productions, the companys global businesses include Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, LucasArts Ent. Lucas Licensing, and Lucas Online. Lucasfilms feature films have won 19 Oscars and its television projects have won 12 Emmy Awards.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Ent. Llc. (www.foxhome.com) is a subsidiary of Twentieth Fox Film Corp., a News Corp. company

Bill Desowitz's picture

Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.

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