By Brian Crecente, 6:00 PM on Mon Aug 13 2007, 6,158 views (Edit, to draft, Top, Slurp)

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Microsoft doesn't just want to top Halo 2's first day sales record with the sequel, it wants to blow it out of the water. Variety reports that Microsoft has its eye set on topping the opening weekend box office record of $151 million set by Spider-Man 3, raking in $155 million in a single day.

In its first 24 hours of release in 2004, the second installment of the sci-fi shooter earned $125 million. That number forced many nongamers to take the vidgame biz seriously for the first time.

With "Halo 3," Microsoft's Xbox unit wants not only to top the 2004 figure but to reach $155 million in a single day — besting the $151 million opening weekend for "Spider-Man 3," the current record holder for a pic at the box office.

Officially, of course, the software giant is hedging its bets.

"We did $125 million last time," said Microsoft director of creative marketing Chris Di Cesare, who oversaw much of the second installment's launch. "We're confident we can do better."

Besides having a ton of copies of the game on hand, Microsoft is kicking off the mother of all media campaigns. Lets hope the game lives up the ever-mounting hype.

High 'Halo 3' hopes [Variety]