Looking at Terapeak’s Hot Media for April-May, the top five DVDs display a pretty wide breadth of film styles; you’ve got a near-three-hour Academy darling, a slapstick comedy starring that dude from King of Queens, two classic Disney favorites… and, of course, Twilight.

So obviously, if you’re in the popular DVD biz, these titles are among your bread-winners. But what about other merchandising opportunities? This blog will take a look at memorabilia and paraphernelia related to these films, and examples of ways to make the most of Terapeak’s Hot Research.

As you can see — and it’s no surprise, really — first on our list is Twilight, the initial film adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s best-selling vampire series (which we blogged about fairly recently). A 30-day All Sites search for “Twilight” uncovers more than 78,000 results, and with such an obsessed worldwide following, you can bet anything Twilight-related has a good chance of sparking interest. Beyond DVDs, here are its next five most popular Level-2 categories:

1. Movie Memorabilia (15,501) — Dolls, Posters, Blankets
2. Fiction Books (7,440) — Individual novels, Collected novels, Autographed novels
3. Fashion Jewelry (5,337) — Pendants, Rings, Bracelets
4. Desktop & Laptop Accessories (4,198) — Laptop skins, Laptop cases, XBox skins
5. Watches (3,146) — Watches, Faceplates, Wall clocks

Next is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, David Fincher’s adaptation of a 1922 F. Scott Fitzgerald story. The film, starring Brad Pitt, led the 2009 Academy Awards with 13 nominations, but that hasn’t exactly translated into merchandising opportunities. (Perhaps viewers who sat through its 165 minutes felt they’d had enough?)

A 30-day All Sites search for “Benjamin Button” results in 2,832 listings, with the most popular related Level-2 categories being the following:

1. Movie Memorabilia (119) — Props, Posters, Postcards
2. CDs (26) — Original soundtrack
3. Fiction Books (25) — Short story collections, Graphic novels
4. Nonfiction Books (24) — Short story collections (bizarre?)
5. Autographs-Original (15) — Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, David Fincher autographs

Placing third is Paul Blart: Mall Cop, a Kevin James comedy that reached #1 in North American box offices. We weren’t sure what to expect in terms of non-DVD merchandise… and a 30-day search for “Paul Blart” turned up barely 2,000 listings. In fact, here are all the non-DVD Level-2 categories that turned up 10+ results:

1. Movie Memorabilia (47) — Posters, Photos, Football jerseys

Seriously, that’s it.

Finally, rounding out the top five are two classic Disney films, remastered and re-released: Beauty and the Beast and Lion King. These old faves require no introduction, and both (like most things Disney-related) have been merchandising gold mines for many, many years. Here are the top non-DVD categories for both, beginning with a 30-day All Sites search for “Beauty and the Beast”:

1. Disneyana (620) — Figurines, Toys, Snow globes
2. VHS (380) — Original editions, Remastered editions, Sequels
3. Children’s Books (250) — Picture books, Braille books, Read-a-loud books
4. Comics (125) — Grimm Tales, Graphic novels
5. Dolls (122) — Barbies, Barbie clothes, Stuffed toys

And “Lion King”:

1. Disneyana (1,355) — Figurines, Artwork, Snow globes
2. TV, Movie & Character Toys — Broadway tickets, Other tickets, Figurines
3. Games (Video Games) (778) –NES, Game Boy, Sega Genesis games
4. VHS (450) – Original editions, Remastered editions, Sequels
5. Children’s Books (443) — Picture books, Bath books, Read-a-loud books

If you’re a Hot Research subscriber, check out some of the other top titles… The examples shown above are barely the opening credits!