$14 million may seem like way too steep a price to pay for photos of newborn babies, but the Jolie-Pitts have four other kids and they stole the show in the super-expensive photo spread in People. Women’s Wear Daily reports that the high price tag was worth it for People, which split the cost with Hello. The issue sold 2.6 million copies, which is 1.1 million more than People normally sells and makes it the fourth highest selling issue ever. It was also on the racks longer than a normal issue, and was out two days earlier and was available for three weeks, up until today. People priced the magazine at .50 more than their current $3.99 an issue cost.

The Brangelina twins were the highest selling People issue in the past seven years, and the fourth in the magazine’s 35 year history. It was only topped by issues that covered the early deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy Jr. and the tragedy of 9/11.

The issue is the biggest seller in seven years, and is the fourth highest newsstand seller in the magazine’s 35-year history, behind the Sept. 11 issue (4.1 million single copies), the issue covering Princess Diana’s death (3 million) and the one covering the death of John F. Kennedy Jr. (2.8 million). The June 19, 2006 issue with the exclusive baby pictures of Brad and Angelina’s first daughter, Shiloh, moved 2.2 million newsstand copies (perhaps the extra Pitt-Jolie baby provided a bigger draw this time).

The issue’s 2.6 million newsstand sale is way above People’s average weekly newsstand sale of 1.5 million copies, but the issue has been on newsstands longer than a typical one. People released the issue on Aug. 4, two days before its regular newsstand drop date, and the issue will stay on stands for three weeks through Aug. 25. But People also raised its cover price for the special issue, to $4.49, or 50 cents more than its regular price. Along with the 2.6 million copies the issue is projecting to sell on newsstands, the babies also reached 2.3 million People subscribers, according to first-half numbers from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

[From WWD]

Shiloh wasn’t a slouch herself if she sold 2.2 million copies. The money for the twin photos will go to charity and most of us can agree that’s a good thing despite some people’s insistence that it be donated right now and not when the Jolie-Pitt Foundation finds a suitable way to distribute it among worthy causes. I thought the interview was pretty candid and worth reading and the photos were gorgeous. It was really cute to see their other kids cradling the twins and my favorite photo was the one of Maddox and Pax each holding one of the babies with Brad in the middle with his arms around them both. One of the newborns was yawning as a blue-mohawked Maddox looked on curiously and you just got a sense that the boys were trying to be careful. It was worth the price of the magazine.