It was a smooth DVD landing for Buena Vista Home Entertainment's "Flightplan," as the Jodie Foster-starring thriller topped both the national DVD sales and rental charts for the week ended Jan. 29.

"Flightplan," which grossed $89.5 million in theaters, easily topped Nielsen VideoScan's First Alert DVD sales chart its first week in stores. It beat second-ranked "The Fog," Sony Pictures' remake of the 1980 John Carpenter frightfest, by a three-to-one margin.

The only other newcomer to First Alert's top 20 was ThinkFilm's "The Aristocrats," which debuted at No. 9.

Several comedies, meanwhile, are showing remarkable staying power. New Line Home Entertainment's "Wedding Crashers" remains berthed at No. 3 after four weeks in stores.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment's "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," after seven weeks out, is still in the top 10 and in fact moved up two spots, to No. 7 from No. 9 the previous week.

A handful of the fourth quarter's big DVD releases also remain among the top 20 sellers.

DreamWorks Home Entertainment's "Madagascar" is at No. 13, 11 weeks after it first charted. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is at No. 14 after nine weeks. Warner Home Video's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Batman Begins" are at No. 18 and No. 19, respectively, after 12 and 15 weeks in stores. And 20th Century Fox's "Fantastic Four" is at No. 20 two months after it first charted.

On Home Media Retailing's DVD rental chart for the week ended Jan. 29, Flightplan easily coasted to a first-place finish, generating an estimated $10.7 million in revenue, or nearly 12% of its box office gross.

The Fog premiered at No. 4, with rental revenue pegged at $7.2 million.

The previous week's top renter, Lionsgate's Lord of War, slipped down a notch to No. 2, but still managed to bring in a respectable $8.05 million from rentals. After two weeks, the film has generated 74% of its box office earnings from DVD rentals alone.

Author: Thomas K. Arnold, Home Media Retailing