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Blu-ray sales have fallen to levels not seen since 2009, while total disc sales have not seen this level of inactivity since the early 2000s.

With the COVID-19 pandemic having cancelled pretty much all theatrical movie releases from mid-March onwards, the lack of new releases has meant that physical media sales have steadily declined. This culminated in sales for the week ending August 29, 2020 being the lowest in quite a while, as the only new release in the top 10 was 'The King of Staten Island', a movie that followed the same fate as many recent releases, having originally being slated for a theatrical release and eventually having to make do with a debut on premium on-demand.

Blu-ray weekly revenue fell to $12.70 million, the lowest since September 13, 2009, when it was $12.05 million. This was down by almost 50% compared to the same week last year. DVD sales, having held up slightly better than Blu-ray in recent weeks, also fell to levels unseen since the early 2000s.

And the situation is unlikely to get better any time soon. With big movie releases such as Tenet only recently hitting re-opened cinemas, this means it could be months before a major release hits Blu-ray again, and the unwanted records could keep tumbling.