Press Release:
Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior sold 700,000 copies within the first six days of its Aug. 19 release, putting it on track to be one of the all-time top three selling non-family direct-to-DVD titles, according to the studio.
The title, directed by Resident Evil: Extinction helmer Russell Mulcahy and starring Ultimate Fighting Championship’s Randy Couture, is the prequel to The Scorpion King, which starred Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Michael Clarke Duncan and grossed $165 million worldwide during its 2002 theatrical release, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
Scorpion King 2 was marketed with primetime TV ads and was featured as a sponsor of a section of Olympics coverage on NBC, a sister unit of Universal.
The studio also is running Scorpion King 2 sweepstakes ,with prizes including memorabilia from the film, an HDTV, a PlayStation 3 console and DVDs from the Scorpion King and Mummy franchises. Scorpion King 2 had a budget of $5 million to $10 million and is the studio’s most ambitious DVD original movie to date, according to Glenn Ross, Universal’s executive VP/general manager for made-for-DVD titles.