This week’s home entertainment offerings include the best final film in a movie trilogy since Toy Story 3, the fourth installment in the third biggest horror movie series of all time, and the release of the Limited Edition of Season 7 of The Walking Dead, which comes with a stunning exclusive figure from MacFarlane Toys.

Theatrical Movies

This week’s top release is War for the Planet of the Apes (Fox, “PG-13,” 130 min., $29.98, BD $34.98, 3D #39.99), the third film in the rebooted POTA series that began with Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011.  Directed by Matt Reeves, War for the Planet of the Apes’ domestic box office total ($147 million) dropped 30% from that of its predecessor in spite of the fact that War for The Planet of the Apes earned a stellar 93% positive rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.  Once again Andy Serkis gives a brilliant motion capture performance as Caesar, a chimpanzee who leads a tribe of genetically advanced apes, but War for POTA, in spite of its quality, was considered something of a box office disappointment during a lackluster summer movie season, when many “sequels” are remakes (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Transformers: The Last Knight, and The Mummy) underperformed in a domestic market that was beset with “sequelitis.”  War for POTA may have been affected by this malaise, but that was unfortunate since it is actually the best final films in a trilogy since Toy Story 3.

Fans of supernatural-themed horror movies also have a treat in store this week with the release of David F. Sandberg’s Annabelle: Creation (Warner Bros., “R,” 120 min., $28.98, BD $35.98), the fourth film in The Conjuring series.  Actually Annabelle: Creation is the prequel to a prequel (2014’s Annabelle).  The four Conjuring films have now earned $1.1 billion worldwide against a combined cost of just $81.9 million.

While one of the major box office trends of 2017 was the success of horror films like Split, Get Out, and Annabelle: Creation, another obvious market change was the general decline in the popularity of animated features with the exception of the one real animated hit Despicable Me 3.  Part of the reason for the decline is an overabundance of mediocre animated efforts like The Emoji Movie (Sony, “PG,” $30.99, BD $35.99), an innocuous and thoroughly unnecessary film that is for kids only.

Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth earned a robust $25 million back in 2006, but his 2017 sequel An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (Paramount, “PG,” 97 min., $16.99, BD $26.99) brought in a mere $3.5 million in spite of the fact that the effects of global climate change are a lot more obvious now than they were eleven years ago.  In this case “sequelitis” could have been the result of the looser structure of An Inconvenient Sequel, which follows Gore around the world as he attempts to raise awareness of the dangers posed by the burning of fossil fuels.

TV on DVD

In a lean week the domestic release that stands out is Teen Wolf: The Complete Series (Fox, “TV-14,” 3,800 min., $99.98), which contains all 95 episodes of the just concluded series that began in 2011 on MTV.  Loosely based on the 1985 movie of the same name, Teen Wolf stars Tyler Posey as teenage social outcast Scott McCall in a series with definite "cult" potential.

Of course Tuesday is also important because it will see the release of The Walking Dead: The Complete 7th Season Limited Edition (Lionsgate, 782 min., $174.99), which comes with the exclusive MacFarlane Toys “Winslow Spike Walker” Statue in an edition limited to 5,000 copies.

Almost everything else of interest this week is from overseas, including, for the literary set, The Durrells: The Complete 2nd Season (PBS, 280 min., $39.99, BD $48.99), which chronicles the life of the remarkable Durrell family who, in spite of reduced circumstances, managed to move to the Greek island of Corfu and prosper (sort of) by their wits.

For fans of stylish, witty English village murder mysteries there is Midsomer Murders: Series 19, Part 2 (Acorn Media, 186 min., $29.98, BD $29.98), which includes two feature-length mysteries set in the picturesque English countryside including Death By Persuasion, a sharply-observed story of a murder at an “immersive” resort for those who want to experience life in the age of Jane Austen.

Also due on Tuesday is Vera: Set 7 (Acorn Media, 373 min., $58.99), which features great performances by Brenda Blethyn as the abrasive DCI Vera Stanhope in four mysteries based on the novels of Ann Cleeves and set against the stunning backdrop of rural Northumberland.

This week’s only vintage TV release is The Jamie Foxx Show: The Complete 4th Season (Warner Bros., DVD-R, 524 min., $29.99).

Anime

This week’s new releases include the Servamp Season 1 Collection (Funimation, “TV-MA,” 300 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98, Ltd Ed. $84.98), which contains the 12-episode 2016 anime from Brains Base based on the shojo manga series by Strike Tanaka (published here by Seven Seas) about a teenage boy who rescues a black cat only to find that it is a “Servamp,” a vampire servant.   The Limited Edition includes a rigid chipboard box with holographic foil, 40-page artbook, and 2 holographic sticker sheets with 10 characters from the series.

Also new this week are Alderamin on the Sky: The Complete Series (Funimation, “TV-MA,” 325 min., BD/DVD Combo $64.98), which contains all 13 episodes of the 2016 Madhouse series based on the light novel series by Bokuto Uno about a lazy, womanizing soldier, who abhors war, but is an excellent strategist; and the Flying Witch Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, “PG,” 300 min., $59.98, BD $69.98, Premium Box Set $159.98), which collects all 12 episodes of the 2016 J.C. Staff series based on the comedy manga by Chihiro Ishizuka.  The Premium Box Set comes in a special container and includes an art book, art cards, microfiber cloth, stickers, and a soundtrack CD.

Re-priced, re-packaged releases include Bleach: Set 3 (Viz Media, “TV-14,” 700 min., BD $54.97), which includes 28 previously-released episodes (#56-#83) Fairy Tail: Collection 10 (Funimation, “TV-14,” 675 min., BD/DVD Combo $54.98), which includes episodes 213-239, that were previously released in two 13-episode sets: the Log Horizon: Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, “TV-14,” 1,300 min., BD 129.98), which contains all 50 episodes of the 2013-2015 anime series based on the fantasy/science fiction light novels by Momare Touno;  and the Space Dandy Complete Collection (Funimation, “TV-MA,” 650 min., BD/DVD Combo $69.98), which collects the two 13-episode seasons of the 2014 series from Bones that were previously released individually.