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The Hollywood Reporter

9 June 2005

'Boogeyman' bows before 'Chappelle 2'

By Thomas K. Arnold

"Chappelle" fever continues to rage across the country. Paramount's "Chappelle's Show: Season 2 Uncensored" held on to the No. 1 spot on the preliminary national video sales chart for the second consecutive week, once again narrowly outselling a newly released theatrical feature film.

The three-disc TV-DVD package -- which sells in stores for about $30, or twice the average price of a regular DVD -- beat Sony's "Boogeyman Special Edition" for the top spot on VideoScan's First Alert chart for the week ending June 5. In the previous week, the "Chappelle" set finished ahead of Warner's "The Aviator."

"Boogeyman," a horror film that earned a respectable $46.4 million in theaters, finished a strong No. 2 on First Alert. It also topped Home Media Retailing's national video rental chart for the week ending June 5, generating an estimated $7.17 million, slightly more than second-place finisher "The Aviator," which generated another $7.06 million to bring its two-week rental take to $15.6 million.

"Chappelle: Season 2" also was the No. 1 seller on VideoScan's national DVD sales chart for the week ending May 28, ousting Paramount's "Team America: World Police" from the top spot. Here, the "Chappelle" hit finished ahead of three other theatrical newcomers that also arrived in stores May 24: "The Aviator" (No. 2), Sony's $82.3 million-grossing comedy "Are We There Yet?" (No. 3) and the Walt Disney Co.'s "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" (No. 4).