Virgin spanks monkey

According to this press release (on the jump), DVD sales of The 40-Year-Old Virgin exceeded $66 million last week, assuming that those 3.7 million customers each paid $18.

According to Craig Ferguson's very funny Monday routine, the movie "King Kong" took in just $50 million over the weekend.

And if you listen to Ferguson's routine all the way through -- which I recommend -- you'll discover that I  gleaned only the second-best "Kong" headline from that news.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin DVD Rings In Holiday Season Selling

3.7 Million Units In First Week

Universal City, California, December 20, 2005 -The 40-Year-Old Virgin took an uninhibited romp through stores this holiday shopping season, scoring approximately 3.7 combined DVD and VHS units in the first week since its December 13, 2005 street date. Consumers committed nearly $65 million to a long-term relationship with the Universal Studios Home Entertainment comedy blockbuster in its first six days in stores.  Now available in a new extended Unrated Edition featuring 17 additional minutes of sidesplitting high jinks and oodles of titillating bonus features, The 40-Year-Old Virgin was recently nominated by the American Film Institute as 2005's "Outstanding Motion Picture of the Year."

"The 40-Year-Old Virgin's outstanding first-week sales demonstrate holiday shoppers' desire for home entertainment product with humor and heart," said Craig Kornblau, President, Universal Studios Home Entertainment. "This is a film that touches people while it keeps them laughing. It's a perfect combination for the holidays."

Available in both Unrated and R-rated versions, The 40-Year-Old Virgin stars Steve Carell (Bruce Almighty, NBC's "The Office") as Andy Stitzer, an amiable, middle-aged collector of geek memorabilia with a history of humiliating near-misses with women. Paul Rudd (Anchorman), Romany Malco (The Tuxedo) and Seth Rogen (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy) co-star as well-meaning but clueless co-workers who offer him some of the worst amorous advice in history as he stumbles down the road to true love. The outstanding ensemble cast also includes Catherine Keener (The Interpreter), Elizabeth Banks (Seabiscuit) and Leslie Mann (Orange County). The 40 Year Old Virgin marks the feature directorial debut of Emmy^(r) award-winning producer-writer Judd Apatow.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin DVD is packed with bonus features including deleted scenes, uproarious on-set moments with cast and crew, exclusive commentary by the filmmakers and cast, plus never-before-seen extra material for the infamously subversive  "You Know How I Know You're Gay" routine. The unrated version contains additional raucous features plus 17 minutes of wildly hilarious footage created specifically for the DVD.

For more information, please visit: www.the40yearoldvirgin.com. 
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is a part of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% controlled by Vivendi Universal.

Comments

[Marshall Letcher]

Hi Aaron,

Thanks for the tip about Craig Ferguson's very funny riff about Hollywood and the movie "King Kong." I watched it online before viewing last night's Letterman show. Ferguson was much better, a breath of fresh air. I will be a regular viewer from now on.

Happy holidays,

Marshall Letcher

[KN Sato]

King Kong is not a monkey. Monkeys have tails. Kong is an ape.