Play.com announces sales boost for BAFTA nominees

Play.com, the online entertainment retailer, has announced that it is seeing a record sales boost on DVDs that feature this year's big name BAFTA nominees, such as James Franco, Natalie Portman and Colin Firth.

Play.com has revealed that James Franco was the surprise runaway winner in terms of sales increases since the BAFTA nominations were announced in January.

James Franco, the Hollywood heart-throb who was nominated for his performance in the Danny Boyle film '127 Hours' saw sales of his earlier films ('Milk', 'Pineapple Express' and 'Eat Pray Love') jump by 38%.

Natalie Portman confirmed her place as Best Actress with sales from her back catalogue (including 'Closer', where she played a dancing girl, and 'V for Vendetta', where she plays a vigilante) increasing by 26%. Natalie Portman's award-winning portrayal of vulnerable ballerina Nina Sayer alongside Mila Kunis and Winona Ryder in 'Black Swan' drew attention to her highly adaptable acting style and consumers wanted to watch her play a variety of parts from her impressive portfolio of films.

Colin Firth, the man of the moment following his monumental performance as King George VI alongside fellow nominee Helena Bonham Carter in The King's Speech also recorded significant sales increases of his previous work, with an overall 20% uplift since he was nominated for Best Actor.

Simon Homent, head of DVD buying at Play.com said: "Throughout the awards season we continue to see a significant boost in sales for nominees' previous films. Consumers gain interest in not only the films, but also the actors. They buy their earlier films to revisit or explore for the first time the work that helped to get these stars to where they are today. Despite Colin Firth not being the King of sales since the nominations were revealed, we anticipate that The King's Speech will be one of the biggest DVD releases of 2011 when it goes on pre-order on the 7th March."

About Play.com:
Play.com is the UK's favourite online entertainment retailer and recently celebrated its 12th anniversary.

Offering over eight million different lines of DVDs such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, CDs, video games and computing, gadgets, books, electronics such as DVD players, mobile, posters, clothing, Blu-ray and tickets, Play.com is the UK's third most visited online retailer with in excess of seven million customers.

PR Contact:
Sophie Nicholson
Hill & Knowlton
20 Soho Square
London
W1A 1PR
0207 413 3756
www.play.com