So AvP Requiem was released on DVD / Blu-Ray last week in the US and the sales figures have now been published today. From ComingSoon.net:

“Juno debuted at No. 1 on both the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert Sales chart and Home Media Magazine’s rental chart, with Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem bowing at No. 2 on both charts… In rental revenue, Juno generated an estimated $8.4 million in its first week according to Home Media Magazine market research. “Requiem” finished close behind with $7.7 million… On Blu-ray Disc, “Requiem” came out on top while Juno bowed at No. 2.”

So AvPR came second place in the Sales/Rentals charts, generating $7.7M in rental revenue. It came top in the Blu-Ray chart, however. So what does this mean? Well, the first AvP generated $8.6M in its first week. So despite the overwhelming negative reaction to AvPR, it’s done pretty well.

Update: AvPR made $11M in DVD sales in its first week making a total of $19M. That doesn’t include Blu-Ray rentals/sales so the figure is even more.

Update #2: In the second week, Cloverfield entered the rental chart at the top while AvPR dropped to 4th making $6.34M. However, AvPR still kept top place in the Blu-Ray chart.

A couple of clarifications need to be made about the UK AvPR DVDs / Blu-Ray sets. I read the first UK AvPR Blu-Ray review over on DVDActive and:

-There will be no extended / unrated cut in the UK AvPR Blu-Ray Set. Instead, all people will get is the theatrical version. The same is probably true for the DVDs too. If you noticed on shopping sites, the DVDs have been renamed from Extended Combat Edition to Ultimate Combat Edition.

-The 20 minutes of deleted scenes which we heard about a while ago is nothing more than the 6-7 minutes of extra footage from the US Unrated version. This has been padded out with existing footage which comes out at 20 minutes in length. What a bitch, eh? Still, there is a whole lot more hidden footage out there and I wouldn’t be surprised if Fox release another cut of the movie later down the line.

According to Fox UK, the lack of an extended version was due to ‘time constraints on production’. On the bright side though, we do get a few more extras than the US sets.

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from Sigourney Weaver about a potential Alien 5 movie. There’s a new report over on MTV Movies Blog where Sigourney mentioned Alien 5 and the Ripley character.

“The last time [Ridley and I] saw each other we talked about it. The character is still interesting [and] I’d love to work with Ridley again,” Weaver said, raising our hopes to their absolute apex before immediately dashing them against the rocks of reality. “But Fox has effectively killed it because of ‘Alien vs. Predator.’ What else can you do with the creature? You can take the situation, you can go back to where they came from. “To play someone who ages a couple hundred years was fascinating,” she added. “[But] let [Ripley] rest.”

I agree with her about AvP killing any chance of Alien 5. That’s what the series did to both franchises if you ask me. I wonder if she’s seen AvP2 yet. Thanks to JK for the news.

There’s a new video interview with Tom Woodruff over on IGN. Like the previous interview, he talks about working on AvP Requiem amongst other things.

IGN also have another video. It’s kind of a trailer for the Unrated DVD and the video contains a lot of the unrated scenes. Thanks to XenoVC and ElitePredator for the news.

Update: DreadCentral also did a video interview with Tom Woodruff. It’s much longer than IGN’s – over 12 minutes long. Couple of interesting things I noted. He mentions that Alec and himself had aspirations to direct AvP Requiem themselves. Tom also pitched an idea to Fox for Alien 5 but revealed Fox had no interest in going back to the Alien series.

ShockTillYouDrop.com were lucky enough to visit ADI’s studio and talk to Tom Woodruff about working on AvPR.

Shock: Out of the action set pieces on AvP: Requiem, what turned out to be the most challenging for you?
Woodruff: The Strause Brothers were smart, as was [screenwriter] Shane Salerno, in bringing the classic elements of the Alien movie which always has corridors. There are always the corridors of the ship or the corridors of the prison planet in Alien 3 or the ship in Resurrection. Here we have the sewers or the electrical power plant, the grids and walkways. It’s all conducive to the feel of an Alien film, but the most difficult was certainly the rooftop scene…

The interview is very detailed. There’s also a review of the Unrated DVD over on ComingSoon.net. They give the movie 4/10 and the extras 7/10.

There’s a new video interview with the Strause Brothers about the Blu-Ray DVD over on Hollywood In Hi-Def (via YouTube). They discuss why they like high-definition. There’s also some quick VFX shots from the movie.

There’s another featurette over on YouTube, courtesy of Bloody-Disgusting, which covers Ian Whyte as the Predator. The audio is terrible so I couldn’t make much out. Thanks to DazAvP01 and XenoVC for the news.

There’s a couple of new reviews on Blu-Ray.com. The first for AvP Requiem. It’s pretty detailed and they give it 3.5/5 overall. The next one is for Predator. They gave the same score to that one… but only because of the absence of extras. The movie itself scored 5/5.

The reviewer mentions you can make out new details in the movie because of the high-definition. Like gruesome details of the skinned bodies hanging in the tree. It’s such a shame Fox didn’t include the features from the SE DVD though. It’s the best film in the series.

A new AvP Requiem DVD review has surfaced over on DreadCentral. They give the Unrated DVD 2.5/5 for the movie and 4/5 for the features. It’s an amusing review. They mentioned the darkness of the movie and have even posted screencaps of this to prove their points.

“I have sat through Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem at least five times (this last time with every light in my house out); yet, I feel like I haven’t seen it once. Why, you ask? Because for whatever reason the film is so dark you can barely make out what’s going on. The great Daniel Pearl worked on this flick! How this happened is beyond me. Words alone can’t accurately describe what I’m talking about. You have to see it for yourself. Or, in this case, not see it for yourself…”

The caps are depressingly dark. You’d sorta think that the studio would have done something about it after every theatrical review and now every DVD review complained about the darkness. I guess not. Thanks to LukaKovach, and Sirand for the news.

Various shots of the AvP Requiem Blu-Ray menu can be seen over on DVDActive. Presumably it’s from the UK Blu-Ray release though I expect the US one will be the same.

If you’ve read the comments on that article as well, the webmaster indicated the Extended version isn’t on on the UK Blu-Ray release. It only contains the theatrical version. Instead, you have to view the extra scenes in the 20mins deleted scenes feature. Thanks to JK for the news.

Three interesting featurettes from the upcoming AvPR DVD can be seen on Arrow In The Head. The first one is called “Building the Predator Homeworld” which takes you through the concept art for the homeworld. The next one is “Crossbreed: Creating the Predalien” which about the various concepts for the Predalien. The final clip is about the sculpting of the Predalien.

Direct FLV Downloads:
Building the Predator Homeworld (9MB)
Crossbreed: Creating the Predalien (7MB)
Sculpting the Predalien (7MB)

The different concepts for the homeworld look interesting. Check out my forum thread for more concept art. Thanks to JK for the news.