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Aussies snap up 60,000 copies of Underbelly Uncut

NONE of the 60,000 copies of the $55 Underbelly Uncut DVD collection are likely to hit retail shelves next week as planned.

One retail assistant at a Brisbane Sanity Music store said they wouldn't put any copies on the shelves next week because they're all sold to people who preordered.

It is a similar story at other Brisbane stores.

The distributor, Roadshow Entertainment, has to manufacture thousands more to meet public demand.

And none will be sold (legally) in Victoria where it was banned because a gangland murder trial is currently being heard there.

The first 60,000 copies are unlikely to fill the number needed to fill pre-orders placed within four to five weeks since the show started on Channel Nine.

Roadshow Entertainment marketing manager, Paddy Bryans, who also distributes Kath and Kim, Summer Heights High and Thank God You're Here, said the level of demand for an Australian drama was an unheard of phenomenon.

"The series taps into human nature and people are interested in what's going on around them," Mr Bryans said.

"This is a great case of fact being stranger than fiction." He said several thousand more copies were being made and would be available within a week or so from the May 8 launch.

"We don't believe we will be out of stock," he said.

"We are stoked with the response to the DVD," Mr Bryans said.

"The real life nature of it clearly has tapped into people's interest with publicity around characters like Mike Gatto, who's still alive.

"The drama continued to be brought to life as the series goes to air."

By Lisa Yallamas
May 02, 2008
The Courier-Mail