Following on from the hugely successful screening of Iron Maiden’s award-winning film Flight 666 in over 500 digital cinemas in 42 countries worldwide in April, the recent release of “Flight 666” on DVD has secured another global triumph for the band by flying into the music DVD charts at Number One in 22 countries already, including the USA and UK , with many more charts yet to come in!!!
-In the USA it was not only No.1 debut but also the highest selling first week sales of any music DVD so far in 2009! This release closely followed the US TV Premiere of the movie on Palladia/VH1 which was watched by over three million people, the highest viewing of a music documentary on the channel so far this year.
-In Canada it rocketed into the No.1 position outselling the No.2 DVD by over 6:1
-In the UK, first day's sales were over twice the total combined sales of every other DVD in the Top 50!!
-In Sweden Flight 666 is currently at #1, #3 and #4 on Sweden's leading online retailer Discshop chart with the deluxe, standard and Blu-ray formats respectively!
-In Australia it not only debuted at No.1 but was certified Platinum within its second week of release.
-In India, as well as being the No.1 music DVD, it entered at No.6 in the mainstream DVD movie chart, placing it that week ahead of such international blockbusters as "Slumdog Millionaire" and many Bollywood movies!
-In Brazil, where 70% of the market is dominated by local repertoire, it debuted at No.3 in their national chart and is fully expected to reach No.1 by next week. It was a new entry at No.1 in Brazil's International chart.
-Once again No.1 in Arabia.
The countries in the five continents where Flight 666 flew in at No.1 were Australia, Arabia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil int, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan int, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the USA. Elsewhere in the world it entered at No.2 in Spain and Portugal, and at No.3 in France and Hungary, and No4 in Holland. With more charts still to come from many other Latin American territories who will release the DVD this week, well over 30 countries are expected to achieve No.1 for Flight 666.
And after four weeks of sales in Europe, Flight 666 is still holding strong at No.1 in Germany, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Norway and Italy, making this Iron Maiden's most successful DVD release to date and proving yet again the unswerving, ever-growing support of Maiden fans young and old, from every corner of the globe, and the unstoppable resurgence of Heavy Metal.
Flight 666 covers the first leg of Iron Maiden’s “Somewhere Back In Time Tour” which began Feb 2008 and encompassed 23 sold-out stadium and arena shows in Asia, Australia and North, Central and South America in just 45 days, covering 5 Continents and 13 countries, travelling almost 50,000 miles. All this made possible because of the unique method of travel; the band’s specially customised Boeing 757 plane, Piloted by Maiden vocalist and Airline Captain Bruce Dickinson and christened Ed Force One by Maiden fans, the plane (CALL SIGN 666) carried band, crew and 12 tons of equipment across the globe for the most adventurous tour in rock history. Directed by Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen of award winning Banger Productions, (‘Metal; A Headbanger’s Journey’ and ‘Global Metal’) and shot in spectacular High-Definition with thunderous 5.1 surround sound, Flight 666 takes you right inside the Maiden family with almost total access to the band, something which they have never allowed before.
Flight 666 was released through EMI Music on May 25th except on June 9 in Canada on EMI and in the USA on Ume. It is available on deluxe double DVD with a special 28 page booklet, standard DVD, alongside a double-CD soundtrack album and extended Blu-ray, along with The Soundtrack in Double CD and a limited edition double-vinyl picture disc. Both DVD and Blu-Ray include bonus footage of the full concert shot of 16 songs shot in 16 different cities.
Iron Maiden are currently taking time off before getting together later in the year to start work on a new album planned for release in 2010.
