American Death Note Success Statistics Revealed

The Japanese language Variety Magazine has reported that the limited American theatrical screenings of the first Death Note live action movie on May 20 and 21 drew over 65,000 viewers. For comparison, Viz Media’s June 2007 theatrical release of the first Naruto anime movie in just over half as many American theaters for only one night instead of two attracted only an estimated 6,000 viewers. In response to the success of the Death Note film release, Viz Media is reportedly considering a similar limited theatrical release of the second film.

Reportedly over 800,000 copies of the 12 Death Note manga volumes have been sold in the United States. And the five currently available DVD volumes of the Death Note anime, each available in a standard and a limited edition version, have accumulated total sales of roughly 200,000 copies so far.

Death Note is apparently consistently one of America’s top five best selling anime DVD titles with an average of about 20,000 copies per edition (regular/limited) sold. It’s a sign of the times when just a few years ago average successful American anime DVDs sold 40,000 copies and now moving just half that number is enough to make a title one of America’s top five sellers.

Source: Anime News Network