Here’s the top titles Australians rented and bought during the pandemic

As if we weren’t already in the enthralling midst of ‘peak TV’ culture, the COVID-19 pandemic forced us all to rely on our home entertainment even more than usual.

A recent study from the Australian Home Entertainment Distributors Association (AHEDA for short) has provided more evidence that  consumption of home entertainment across Australia reached an all-time high during the peak of the pandemic, with digital purchase ballooning +55% in April and a further +29% that May.

AHEDA’s chairman Jim Batchelor is “certain that this trend will continue in the future”.

The top three best-selling movies of 2020 across Australia were all family-friendly adventure titles: Jumanji: The Next Level coming in as a surprising #1, followed by Sonic The Hedgehog and Frozen 2. In rentals, however, the more gritty Joker and The Gentlemen came in first and third respectively, with Sonic maintaining second place.

Australian-produced titles had their moments too, with the very female-oriented top 3 of Ride Like A Girl, The Invisible Man and Miss Fisher & The Crypt of Tears.

But later in the year, a lack of theatrical releases due to closed cinemas meant that there were few big titles flowing onto digital rent/buy services. Much-loved classics such as Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings became available on popular streaming services, and binge-able TV took over, especially newly accessible content like HBO’s The Undoing. The top 3 shows Australians watched in 2020 were Outlander, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The 100.

See below the full ranked lists of Australia’s best-selling titles throughout 2020. How many of your faves was everybody else watching, too?

Top 10 Best Selling Movies:

1. Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony)
2. Sonic The Hedgehog (Paramount)
3. Frozen 2 (Disney)
4. Joker (2019) (Roadshow)
5. Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise Of Skywalker (Disney)
6. Bad Boys For Life (Sony)
7. The Gentlemen (Roadshow)
8. Bloodshot (Sony)
9. Scoob! (Warner Bros)
10. Ford V Ferrari (Disney)

Top 10 Rented Movies:

1. Joker (2019) (Roadshow)
2. Sonic The Hedgehog (Paramount)
3. The Gentlemen (Roadshow)
4. Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony)
5. Gemini Man (2019) (Paramount)
6. 1917 (Entertainment One)
7. Knives Out (Sony)
8. Ford V Ferrari (Disney)
9. Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood (Sony)
10. Hustlers (Roadshow)

Top 10 TV Series:

1. Outlander – The Complete 5th Series (Sony)
2. Brooklyn Nine-Nine – The Complete 7th Series (Universal)
3. The 100 – The Complete 7th Series (Warner Bros)
4. Vikings – The Complete 6th Series (MGM)
5. The Undoing – The Complete 1st Series (HBO)
6. Supernatural – The Complete 15th Series (Warner Bros)
7. Big Little Lies – The Complete 2nd Series (HBO)
8. Game Of Thrones – The Complete 8th Series (HBO)
9. Chernobyl – The Complete 1st Series (HBO)
10. Succession – The Complete 1st Series (HBO)

Top 10 Australian Produced Movies:

1. Ride Like A Girl (Sony)
2. The Invisible Man (2020) (Universal)
3. Miss Fisher & The Crypt Of Tears (Roadshow)
4. Danger Close: The Battle Of Long Tan (Sony)
5. 100% Wolf (Universal)
6. Go! (Roadshow)
7. Peter Rabbit (Sony)
8. Black Water: Abyss (Universal)
9. Carl Barron – Drinking With A Fork (Universal)
10. The Nightingale (Sony)

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