Halo 3 to outsell top films

Microsoft believes Halo 3 could sell more in one day than top films have made in their opening weekends.

The target for the new game is USD 155 million, which would smash the box office record of USD 151 million held by Spider-Man 3.

Comments were made by Microsoft marketing boss Chris Di Cesare, who was convinced the film-like approach to marketing would help make the new game an order of magnitude more successful than Halo 2.

"When we opened to USD 125 million [last time], that really caught a lot of people's attention. It showed that videogames were no longer that thing that kids play in their basement," Chris Di Cesare told Variety. "We're confident we can do better."

And although he realises the comparison isn't entirely fair - as games cost considerably more than a ticket to the cinema - the numbers involved are simply too big to be ignored.

"I recognize it's not apples to apples. But it's big business any way you cut it," continued Di Cesare.

Halo 3 recently broke over one million pre-orders in the US, prompting many observers to say they would be unsurprised if one-day sales climbed as high as USD 170 million.

The marketing push to launch has called on help from some of America's biggest brands, with Pontiac, Burger King, Mountain Dew, 7-Eleven and Comcast all offering various forms of cross-branding.

Halo 3 is due for release in Europe on 26th September, a day later than in the US.

Head over to our Halo 3 gamepage for all our coverage to date.