The Charts

THE TALE OF THE TAPE

There’s real news on the chart this week, and it has nothing to do with the impressive performance of debuting romantic comedies from heartthrobs Ashton Kutcher (Just Married) and LL Cool J (Deliver Us From Eva) — especially with comic powerhouse Old School still drawing the viewers in its second week of release. No, there was something more momentous going on in video stores: As of June 15, DVDs surpassed VHS tapes in rentals for the first time since the digital format was launched, raking in a staggering $2.1 billion thus far this year compared with the $1.9 billion that tapes brought in. Fret not, VHS fans, it’s not the end of the road…yet.

TOP 10 DVD SALES BOX OFFICE GROSS WEEKS EW LAST TO ON VIDEO WEEK DATE* CHART GRADE

1 1 OLD SCHOOL (WIDE-SCREEN) $74.7 2 B 2 — JUST MARRIED $56.1 1 B 3 2 TEARS OF THE SUN $43.4 2 C 4 — DELIVER US FROM EVA (WIDE-SCREEN) $17.4 1 C- 5 3 DIE ANOTHER DAY (WIDE-SCREEN) $160.9 3 B+ 6 — NARC (WIDE-SCREEN) $10.5 1 B+ 7 7 THE RECRUIT $52.8 4 B- 8 4 THE ANIMATRIX — 3 B 9 5 BIKER BOYZ (WIDE-SCREEN) $21.7 2 B- 10 10 THE JUNGLE BOOK 2 $47.9 2 C

TOP 10 TAPE RENTALS

VIDEO BOX OFFICE WEEKS EW LAST GROSS GROSS TO ON VIDEO WEEK TO DATE DATE* CHART GRADE

1 — JUST MARRIED $3.9 $56.1 1 B 2 1 OLD SCHOOL $6.4 $74.7 2 B 3 2 TEARS OF THE SUN $5.4 $43.4 2 C 4 5 THE RECRUIT $11.1 $52.8 4 B- 5 3 DIE ANOTHER DAY $8.7 $160.9 3 B+ 6 4 ABOUT SCHMIDT $7.5 $65.0 3 A 7 6 NATIONAL SECURITY $8.7 $35.8 4 C+ 8 8 CATCH ME IF YOU CAN $21.7 $164.5 7 B+ 9 7 BIKER BOYZ $3.1 $21.7 2 B- 10 — DELIVER US FROM EVA $1.3 $17.4 1 C-

SOURCES: VIDEO BUSINESS/VIDTRAC FOR THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 22, 2003; NIELSEN EDI *BOX OFFICE GROSS-TO-DATE FIGURES IN MILLIONS

COMING UP

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COMING UP

GODS AND GENERALS (Warner, PG-13) Ted Turner paid for this Civil War epic — chronicling some of its central figures during its early years — out of his own pocket. The least you could do is read our review next week.

LAUREL CANYON (Columbia TriStar, R) Frances McDormand goes into her extensive bag of tricks to play a bohemian record-producing mom acting as a host to her stuffy son (Christian Bale) and his fiancee (Kate Beckinsale).