Film execs cross with Halo 3

By GamesIndustry International Published 17 October, 2007

Kept people at home.

With a poor October box office, some film executives are convinced that Halo 3 has kept movie audiences home, GamesIndustry.biz reports. And not that all their films were bollocks.

According to an Advertising Age article, total indusry ticket sales were only USD 80 million for the weekend of 5th October, down 27 per cent from the prior year.

That's the worst performance for an October weekend since 1999.

Halo 3 launched on 26th September, and has earned sales of well over USD 300 million. Xbox Live players racked up more than 40 million hours of gameplay by the end of the first week.

"The audience on this game is the 18-to-34 demographic, similar to what you'd see in cinemas," said Mike Hickey, an analyst at Janco Partners, adding that "this could last for several weeks".

"We marketed [Halo 3] like a film," said Josh Goldberg, a Microsoft product manager, "and now, we're just as big or bigger than film."

In terms of revenue, the launch of Halo 3 set the single-day record for an entertainment product, beating films such as Spider-man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, books such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and games such as Halo 2.

Why go to the cinema when you can read GamesIndustry.biz instead?

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Comments (47) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • PiranhaUK #1 5 years ago

    Ooooerrrr! ;)

  • LHH #2 5 years ago

    LOL

  • Stifler #3 5 years ago

    "In terms of revenue, the launch of Halo 3 set the single-day record for an entertainment product, beating films such as Spider-man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, books such as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and games such as Halo 2."

    Dom't get me wrong - i LOVE halo, but the comparison of revenue between a £50 game and a £5 cinema ticket is slightly unfair ;)

  • Heitzu #4 5 years ago

    Bollocks, games cost more than a ticket to a film.

  • Inquisitor #5 5 years ago

    Since when was a game £50 and a cinema ticket £5?

    More like £40 - £6...Oh wait, still a huge difference, okay carry on :)

  • Rodney #6 5 years ago

    Is it me or does this story reek of a PR exercise?
    Edited by Rodney at 17/10/07 @ 09:47

  • booner #7 5 years ago

    Hahah they claim that the game has kept their movie audience at home, well maybe they shouldnt have cut to budget for the Halo movie??? ;-)

  • symbiote #8 5 years ago

    I think considering a film lasts for a couple of hours and a game like Halo has the ability to last for a couple of hundred hours, it's a very fair comparison
    Edited by symbiote at 17/10/07 @ 09:48

  • Talha #9 5 years ago

    Well I expect that those stupid, numb execs didn't for a moment consider the remote possiblity that their movies might have - gasp! - sucked.

  • Ace_McCloud #10 5 years ago

    What a load of bollocks.

    What a stroke of genius.

    Can't decide.

  • Inquisitor #11 5 years ago

    Hopefully this gives the film execs the impression that a halo film might actually be a pretty good idea.

  • The-Bodybuilder #12 5 years ago

    Idiots.

    Instead of moaning about halo 3, how's about you make a movie on it then, eh?

  • BadBoyBonner #13 5 years ago

    Symbiote

    "I think considering a film lasts for a couple of hours and a game like Halo has the ability to last for a couple of hundred hours, it's a very fair comparison..."

    Seems the industry agree's with you "an analyst at Janco Partners, adding that this could last for several weeks"

  • smirny #14 5 years ago

    "Dom't get me wrong - i LOVE halo, but the comparison of revenue between a £50 game and a £5 cinema ticket is slightly unfair ;)"

    @stifler

    i'll repeat a previous post of mine for the benefit of those that missed it last time on how a comparision like this DOES work...


    cinema ticket sells for low price and therefore lots of people buys tickets generating lots of cash

    videogame sell for high price meaning fewer people buy but also generates lots of cash

    if cost of cinema ticket increases fewer people buy but the higher price means it would generate roughly the same amuont of cash

    so if the price of the game were reduced more copies would be sold also resulting in roughly the same amount of cash in the end


    so that's how they're compared regardless of the initial price


    edit: and regarding the news story... what decent films have come out in recent weeks? nice to see a lot of examples... hmm
    Edited by smirny at 17/10/07 @ 10:01

  • themerlin13 #15 5 years ago

    Hang on, but they won't make a Halo film because it won't sell???
    Which is it? LOL

  • homerramone #16 5 years ago

    This is a particularly thinly veiled advertisment.

    (And a load of shite!)

  • Putty-Man #17 5 years ago

    Should all us gamer geeks not unite and be happy at this news!

  • Stifler #18 5 years ago

    "so if the price of the game were reduced more copies would be sold also resulting in roughly the same amount of cash in the end "

    Surely this is only true if the installed user base of the system the game is on is similar to the world wide cinema going public......

  • Moz #19 5 years ago

    This made laugh

  • Bumhug360 #20 5 years ago

    Halo movie would be a bad idea, as no doubt to cash in on the movie there would be a game based on the movie. Which means rather than going to see the movie people would stay at home and play the game

  • jellyhead #21 5 years ago

    boo hoo hoo. Halo3 forced people not to see our films. boo hoo hoo.
    Cry more, babies.

  • Steroyd #22 5 years ago

    The police today blames GTA for lowering crime, they claim people are sat at home busting a cap in their homies, instead of going out into the streets and busting a cap in their real homies, this leaves the police to do nothing but eat donoughts all day.

    Maybe your movie is crap? Which is why it didn't sell?

  • Darren #23 5 years ago

    Eh, there are perhaps 13 million Xbox 360 owners at most compared with some 260 million people in the US alone so how do they account for the poor box office takings for October? It's an absolutely absurd suggestion that people who play games make up the majority of people who go to the cinema!!! And even if it was somehow true, what about the millions of PS2, PS3 and Wii owners, don't they go to the pictures?!? LOL

  • NegativeZero #24 5 years ago

    Given the quality of films they were trying to pass off, Microsoft might have actually done those people a favour.

  • Eraysor #25 5 years ago

    Brilliant. Take that Tarantino!

  • rhinoxious #26 5 years ago

    It might be that it had some effect on takings, but I can't imagine it would be that big

  • skillian #27 5 years ago

    This is a particularly thinly veiled advertisment.

    (And a load of shite!)

    +1

  • LittleVoice #28 5 years ago

    Post deleted at 18:03:32 01-02-2012

  • L42yB #29 5 years ago

    Hmmm... well I own Halo 3 and I went to see Ratatoie (or however u spell it) last weekend. Am I an exception to this rule? I don't know of any of my friends who are not going to the cinema *because* they are playing Halo 3... it doesn't work like that. I can play Halo 3 when I get back from the movie... it's not like my life has stopped because this game has come out...

    Am I really an exception? Are lots of people actually forgoing what they would normally do just because of this game?

    I suspect it is the line up of movies recently, altho I enjoyed Ratatoie and Superbad, both of which I saw in the cinema recently

  • sanctusmortis #30 5 years ago

    Halo 3, or Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Hmmm...

    *Goes and makes an Infection mode for Halo 3 based on RE*

  • K0rrupt #31 5 years ago

    they're talking about the american film market not necessarily the british. Their release dates are totally different from ours (mostly) and the films that have come out at that period have suffered for it. As far as i know, Ratatouille made £5 million pounds which is a pretty good opening in the UK, so i don't think Halo has "affected" the British market as much as these film execs are saying for the american market.

  • Fab4 #32 5 years ago

    It wouldn't be a normal day if film execs weren't moaning about something.

  • AHiFi #33 5 years ago

    That's what they get...

  • mikew1985 #34 5 years ago

    @smirny

    I get what your saying but I don't think you can necessarily say its as black and white as that, there are a lot of factors affecting elasticity of a good outside of price.

    I mean thats very rudimentary econmoics, the correlation between price and demand isn't always as straightforward as that.

    edit:
    I realise that sounds very tossery... but i didnt mean it to,
    Edited by mikew1985 at 17/10/07 @ 12:06

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #35 5 years ago

    The only films at the box office were either ones with limited appeal or utter shite, simple as that:

    Feel The Noise
    The Heartbreak Kid
    The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising
    The Good Night
    Lake of Fire
    Michael Clayton
    My Kid Could Paint That
    Nina's Heavenly Delights

  • Ali #36 5 years ago

    I used to think the Halo 3 'biggest entertainment opening day' claim was bollocks too. But then it's what people are willing to pay for. It's about a balance between the quality of the product and the price it's sold for. You could release a game at £250 but just because it's more expensive than a regular game or a CD or a movie ticket, that doesn't mean it'd sell big numbers.

  • miiiguel #37 5 years ago

    Darren: don't underestimate 360's numbers in US..., they're loads, and loads, loads... Try logging to Live arround 00:00 GMT... they're everywhere!

  • Rirekon #38 5 years ago

    Games Industry > Film Industry
    PWNT!

  • Calgon #39 5 years ago

    I always thought the Halo film prospect would be interesting, just to see how it turns out(why not?) and after seeing that promotional live action ad for the discovery channel(which I presume used stock footage from stuff from the film) I actually think it might turn out ok. Might be the directors first film but if he has talent it wont matter infact it might be the best thing to use a director who is hungry and well suited to the theme. Let them make the damn film if it sucks it sucks, if it turns out great then thats another film to enjoy for all.
    Edited by Calgon at 17/10/07 @ 15:26

  • Darren #40 5 years ago

    I'm sure once the Halo 3 movie is released, the games industry will blame that for the poor takings for whatever month it gets released!!! LOL

  • hoos30 #41 5 years ago

    My personal entertainment budget has shifted dramatically since I got my HDTV two years ago. I paid $3K for this thing, plus extra for a nice surround sound setup. Why should risk a crappy theatre experience, spend $30-40 bucks (2 tix, snacks, parking) for some movie that may or may not be any good, when I can enjoy it all at home on DVD, HD-DVD, XBLM or just play games?

    I may not be representative of the whole of America, but Hollywood has got some major issues to deal with. But don't cry for them because they are making a mint exporting films in the international market.

  • JavaJawaUK #42 5 years ago

    So . . . play Halo 3 or go watch some repetitive Hollywood shit?

    I think the former is definetely more appealing.

  • nightsparkle #43 5 years ago

    HALO IS IN NO WAY THE BEST SELLING GAME, GRAND THEFT AUTO SELLS ABOUT 3X AS MUCH

  • nightsparkle #44 5 years ago

    and the quentin tarantino and rodriguez movies are actually very good, i can't beleive all the negative publicity it gets

  • Corben_Dallas #45 5 years ago

    Way to go video games........lol

  • doragor #46 5 years ago

    The film industry inspires so little these days. Personally, games deliver immersion and excitement that I now yearn for in films but rarely find.

  • Snooz #47 5 years ago

    "So . . . play Halo 3 or go watch some repetitive Hollywood shit?

    I think the former is definetely more appealing."


    Aaaaand then "Halo the movie" comes with a 30sec clip of fun looped over and over. Everybody is happy again :)