Joone’s blockbuster Pirates has remained at the top of AVN’s DVD Sales and Rentals Charts for 100 consecutive weeks, out-selling every other adult title ever made, including celebrity installments. The AVN Charts reflect trends across the entire nation. They are complied from a cross-section of U.S. video stores, adult stores and online studios and are not limited to one demographic, locale or type of customer. “It’s unprecedented that one title could remain at the top of the sales and rental charts for two years,” said Paul Fishbein, president of AVN Media Network. “That doesn’t even happen that often in the music business. With 12,000 new adult titles shipping each year, Pirates’ staggering sales figures confirm the real power of quality content coupled with pristine marketing.” Director Joone is pleased. He comments, “Pirates has continued to be a pleasure from conception. This latest achievement is an astonishing testament, which finds me even more excited about Pirates II.” Digital Playground President, Samantha Lewis smiles, “Pirates continues to bring a lot of attention to Digital Playground paving the way for many lucrative deals and prospects. I am pleased with its success and visibility and I look forward to raising the bar for our industry, again and again, as often as we can.”
To date, Pirates has received 13 AVN Awards, including ‘Best Selling’ and ‘Best Renting DVD’, making it the most awarded title in history by AVN. With over 40 awards worldwide, Pirates has also received more awards collectively than any other title. These award figures represent all titles in adult entertainment, worldwide. Today, after 100 weeks on AVN’s Rentals and Sales Charts, Pirates continues to rank high and is proud to boast the longest stay on the list by any title. Statistics at all of the top retailers in North America support the claim. Tom Berger, CEO of Fairvilla Megastores reports, “Pirates is the complete package, beautiful people, great effects and a contemporary setting. It made money and fans. Clearly, Pirates is the archetype for the next generation of movies for adults.” Jeff Dillon, Business Development Manager of Gamelink.com elaborates, “I like to think of Pirates as the gateway drug of porn. It has a great story line and was filmed beautifully, so someone who has never seen an adult movie can sit down and watch this movie and really appreciate the art of the film as well as get a taste of a real adult movie with some HOT SEX, which we would hope would lead to purchase of other adult titles. One interesting stat is that 40% of our customers who purchased Pirates from us were new customers compared to other Digital Playground releases, where 25% of customers who purchased the product are new customers. This leads me to believe that this might be the first adult movie for many of these customers, but not the last.” Shannon Nutt, Editorial Director at AdultDVDEmpire.com explains, “Pirates continuing success can be attributed both to its cutting-edge effects and its blockbuster cast. It was a movie that showed the world that the adult industry could put out a title that was every bit as entertaining and captivating as a mainstream movie. We expect its popularity to continue since Digital Playground has recently replaced the old Windows Media HD bonus disc with an HD DVD disc, making Pirates a DVD/HD DVD combo package – giving it a lot of appeal for customers taking the hi-def plunge. The upcoming release of Pirates II will most likely serve to increase interest in the original as well.”
In 2006, Pirates became the first adult movie to successfully crossover, receiving an R-rating from the MPAA and mainstream distribution. In September 2006, Digital Playground followed the R-rating with a stand-alone soundtrack. The Pirates soundtrack is the first adult soundtrack to standalone in the digital revolution and the first to acquire successful and visible mainstream distribution.
For additional information, including the Pirates trailer and up-to-date details about Pirates 2, visit http://www.PiratesTheMovie.com.
To schedule interviews with Joone and the cast, or to request production artwork and review copies, contact Adella@DigitalPlayground.com