Big sales of Halo 3 renew film hope

Record sales for sci-fi video game Halo 3 have renewed hope that Peter Jackson's US$128 million movie version will be made in Wellington.

Jackson's film was mothballed 12 months ago when 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures pulled out after trying to reduce Jackson and co-executive producer Fran Walsh's share of the film's profits.

Visual effects studio Weta Digital had been working on the film, and was developing concept art and models.

Released on Tuesday, Halo 3 broke the record for video games in the United States, with US$170 million (NZ$225 million) in sales in the first 24 hours, higher than first-day takings for many Hollywood films.

In New Zealand, more than 10,000 copies, worth about $1 million, were sold on Tuesday.

The Warehouse, Harvey Norman and Dick Smith Electronics said first- day sales surpassed that of Halo 2 in 2004 and for Dick Smith, it was the highest first-day for any video game.

Jackson, who is in Pennsylvania preparing to shoot The Lovely Bones, declined to comment on the high sales. But he has always been open to making the film, if new backers come forward.

Frank O'Connor, a games developer for the video game's creators Bungie, told The Dominion Post last week that it was only a matter of time before Jackson made the film.

"The way Hollywood works, you just never know."