‘A Man Called Otto’ Finds Oscar-Week Acclaim as a Cut-Price VOD:

“A Man Called Otto” (Sony/$14.99) was a flop as an adult-appeal awards contender, but it came out on top of VOD charts the week before the Oscars. Challenging its dominance is a strong performance by “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” (Crunchyroll/$9.99), which took #1 at Google Play while “Otto” led at Vudu and iTunes.

Netflix has an eye-popping nine theatrical releases on its top 10, including six studio sequels. Among those are four separate “Hunger Games” franchise entries, despite those films spending years in constant basic-cable rotation.

Neither “Otto” nor “Dragon” spent much time at a premium price. Sony quickly dropped the price of “Otto” from its initial $19.99. “Dragon,” from the Sony-owned Japanese anime label Crunchyroll, was introduced as a $9.99 purchase. It opened in U.S. theaters last August, the same week that “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village” opened to over $10 million.

“The Whale” (A24/$19.99), whose stars Brendan Fraser and Hong Chau are contenders for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, opened at #1 at iTunes last Tuesday; it’s now #2. “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” (Warner Bros. Discovery/$19.99), debuting after its third weekend in theaters, made two charts, with its #3 Vudu showing boosted by its higher price (that site lists by revenue, not transactions).

Joining “The Whale,” “Demon,” and “Otto” on all three charts were three Universal titles — “Knock at the Cabin” and “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (both $19.99) and “The Fabelmans” ($5.99). The studio once again took 40 percent of the top 10 listings.

Reduced-price Best Picture nominee “Women Talking” (MGM/$5.99) reached a higher level than previous seen, placing third at iTunes while #8 at Google Play.

Netflix has seen a flood of #1 in-house movie productions dominate its listings, but this week sees only one original with #3, “We Have a Ghost.” Everything else is a studio franchise sequel. Apart from the four “Hunger Games” films, placing were “Hangover Part III” and “Magic Mike XXL.” The second “Hangover” also charted for most of the week.

Leading all of them is “This Is Where I Leave You,” a modest 2014 Warner Bros. dramedy. Is this a case where audiences confused it with a new release? Its cast includes Adam Driver, Jane Fonda, Tina Fey, and Jason Bateman, which may have enhanced the appeal for the Shawn Levy-directed title. #2 A forgotten Ryan Reynolds title from 2014, “R.I.P.D.,” is #2, further suggesting that Netflix viewers are lured by films that seem original even if they have been around for years.

iTunes and Google Play rank films daily by number of transactions. For the listings for March 6, view this article at IndieWire.