Halo 3 grossed US$170 million in first day sales and that revenue has grown to more than $300 million as of early October. Movie box office sales in North America are a sharp contrast to these numbers, however, and Master Chief of Halo 3 is taking the heat for the box office numbers decline.

Total industry film ticket sales were reported at $80 million for weekend of October 5th, which is a decrease of more than 27 percent from the same period last year, and according to research reports this is the film industry’s worst weekend ticket sales period since 1999.  Many film executives are carping over the disappointing box office results and are blaming Halo 3 for the poor turnout.

Microsoft, however, was more than pleased with Halo 3 sales and with the lack of box office turnout.  According to one of Halo 3’s Product Manager at Microsoft, the popularity of Halo 3 was expected and gaming has become so popular that it is now capable of competing with films:  "We marketed it like a film and now we're just as big or bigger than film."

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