Warner Bros.' Constantine, which is based on the DC/Vertigo supernatural/horror comic book series Hellblazer, displaced Million Dollar Baby to become the best-selling DVD release for the week ending July 24th according to Nielsen's VideoScan.  Constantine, which earned a respectable, but hardly spectacular $75.5 million at the domestic box office earlier this year, sold nearly twice as many units as the second place DVD, Disney's Ice Princess, and the Deluxe Edition of Constantine, which includes an exclusive Hellblazer comic (see 'Constantine DVD Out July 19th'), finished in fourth place selling 22% as many copies as the regular edition.

It is too early to speculate, but Constantine just might be one of those moderately successful films that earn $40-$80 million at the box office, but really flourish on DVD -- it is certainly off to a very strong start.  If the Constantine DVD continues to do well, many more potential comic book buyers will be exposed to the property via the DVD than saw the film in theaters, so retailers might be well advised to keep whatever Hellblazer graphic novels they have in stock as visible as possible, preferably in some sort of display that makes the connection between the Constantine film and the Hellblazer graphic novels.