Trimmed
Alexander has lackluster DVD debut

Oliver Stone's epic Alexander didn't fare any better on home video than it did in theaters. Even with two versions--a special edition and a director's cut that trimmed scenes spotlighting Alexander the Great's same-sex affections--arriving in stores last week, the Warner Home Video release finished a distant second on the preliminary national sales chart for the week ending August 7, losing out to Sony's romantic comedy Guess Who. The Bernie Mac-Ashton Kutcher vehicle was also the number 1 rental, though its victory wasn't as sweet. According to Home Media Retailing market research estimates, Guess Who grossed $9.54 million in rental stores, just slightly better than Alexander, which earned $9.22 million.

The growing clout of special DVD editions of classic movies was underscored with surprisingly strong sales by Sony's Ghostbusters Gift Set, which entered the chart at number 5, and Paramount's The High and the Mighty at number 8. Several TV DVD collections also came on strong out of the gate, including Ventura's The Cosby Show: Season 1 (number 16) and Warner's fourth season of The Dukes of Hazzard (number 18). (Thomas K. Arnold, via Reuters)