James Franco is BAFTA's leading man

Following the success of The King's Speech at the BAFTA's, Play.com has revealed that James Franco was the surprise runaway winner in terms of sales increases since the nominations were announced in January.

Colin Firth also recorded significant sales increases of his previous work, with an overall 20% uplift since he was nominated for Best Actor, but came in second behind James Franco.

Natalie Portman confirmed her place as Best Actress with sales from her back catalogue including Closer and V for Vendetta increasing by 26 per cent. Portman's award-winning portrayal of vulnerable ballerina Nina Sayer in Black Swan drew attention to her adaptable acting style and consumers surged to watch her play a variety of parts from her portfolio of films.

Simon Homent, head of DVD buying at Play.com said "Throughout the awards season we continue to see a significant boost in sales for nominees' previous films. Consumers gain interest in not only the films, but also the actors. They buy their earlier films to revisit or explore for the first time the work that helped to get these stars to where they are today."