title: Spider-Man 3

text: John Dykstra, who won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for his work on "Spider-Man 2", declined to work on the third film as visual effects supervisor. Dykstra's colleague, Scott Stokdyk, took his place as supervisor, leading two hundred programmers at Sony Pictures Imageworks. This group designed specific computer programs that did not exist when "Spider-Man 3" began production, creating nine hundred visual effects shots.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: In addition to the innovative visual effects for the film, Stokdyk created a miniature of a skyscraper section at 1:16 scale with New Deal Studios' Ian Hunter and David Sanger. Stokdyk chose to design the miniature instead of using computer-generated imagery so damage done to the building could be portrayed realistically and timely without guesswork involving computer models. In addition to Sony Pictures Imageworks, Cafe FX provided visual effects for the crane disaster scene when Spider-Man rescues Gwen Stacy, as well as shots in the climactic battle.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: To understand the effects of sand for the Sandman, experiments were done with twelve types of sand, such as splashing, launching it at stuntmen, and pouring it over ledges. The results were mimicked on the computer to create the visual effects for Sandman. For scenes involving visual effects, Thomas Haden Church was super-imposed onto the screen, where computer-generated imagery was then applied. With sand as a possible hazard in scenes that buried actors, ground-up corn-cobs were used as a substitute instead. Because of its resemblance to the substance, sand from Arizona was used as the model for the CGI sand. In a fight where Spider-Man punches through Sandman's chest, amputee martial arts expert Baxter Humby took Tobey Maguire's place in filming the scene. Humby, whose right hand was amputated at birth, helped deliver the intended effect of punching through Sandman's chest. Producer Laura Ziskin said the visual effects budget alone was approximately 30% more than the previous film.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Whereas the symbiote suit worn in the comics by Spider-Man was a plain black affair with a large white spider on the front and back, the design was changed for the film to become a black version of Spider-Man's traditional costume, complete with webbing motif. As a consequence of this, the suit Topher Grace wore as Venom also bore the webbing motif; as producer Grant Curtis noted, "it's the Spider-Man suit, but twisted and mangled in its own right." Additionally, the motif gave a sense of life to the symbiote, giving it the appearance of gripping onto the character's body. When animating the symbiote, Raimi did not want it to resemble a spider or an octopus, and to give it a sense of character. The CGI model is made of many separate strands. When animating Venom himself, animators observed footage of big cats such as lions and cheetahs for the character's agile movements.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: When interviewed at the film's Tokyo premiere on April 16, 2007, Topher Grace said to Access Hollywood that despite liking how the film turned out, he expressed interest in having the rest of his scenes as both Eddie Brock and Venom being restored someday; later adding, "You know what? Spider-Man 3.5, or however they release it. You know, with the extra scenes". Following the release of the film, fan research compiled deleted scenes and archival footage, showing Adrian Lester in the role of Dr. Wallace, a molecular biologist working on a cure for Marko's daughter, and an alternate death scene for Venom attempting to reattach itself to Parker, who in turn would have destroyed the symbiote by yanking down a sling of steel rods and creating a sonic attack (although this was depicted in the film's novelization).


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Danny Elfman, the composer for the previous installments, chose not to return for the third installment of "Spider-Man" because of difficulties with director Sam Raimi. Elfman said that he had a "miserable experience" working with Raimi on "Spider-Man 2" and could not comfortably adapt his music. Christopher Young was then announced to score "Spider-Man 3" in Elfman's absence. Instead, Elfman chose to work with the 2006 reboot of "Charlotte's Web". A few years later, he reunited with Raimi to compose the score for the film "Oz the Great and Powerful" (2013).


title: Spider-Man 3

text: According to Young, Sandman's theme uses "two contrabass saxophones, two contrabass clarinets, two contrabass bassoons and eight very low French horns" in order to sound "low, aggressive and heavy". Young described Venom's theme as "Vicious, my instructions on that one were that he's the devil personified. His theme is much more demonic sounding." Venom's theme uses eight French horns. Raimi approved the new themes during their first performance, but rejected the initial music to the birth of Sandman, finding it too monstrous and not tragic enough. Young had to recompose much of his score at a later stage, as the producers felt there were not enough themes from the previous films. Ultimately, new themes for the love story, Aunt May, and Mary Jane were dropped.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: On June 28, 2006, the first "Spider-Man 3" teaser trailer premiered in theaters with "Superman Returns". The first trailer was released in theaters on November 17, 2006 with the debut of "Casino Royale" and "Happy Feet". This was followed by a second trailer, which was unveiled on March 9, 2007, being attached to the screenings of "300". The home video releases of "Click" and "Monster House" also contained trailers for "Spider-Man 3". In New York City, the hometown of Spider-Man's fictional universe, tourist attractions arranged events and exhibits on April 30, 2007 to lead up to the release of "Spider-Man 3". The unique campaign included a spider exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, workshops on baby spider plants at the New York Botanical Garden, a Green Goblin mask-making workshop at the Children's Museum of Manhattan, and a scavenger hunt and bug show at Central Park Zoo.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Promotional tie-in partners include Burger King, 7-Eleven, General Mills, Kraft Foods, and Comcast. Hasbro, which holds the license for Marvel characters, released several toys to tie-in with the film. They include a deluxe spinning web blaster, along with several lines of action figures aimed at both children and collectors. Toys of the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus from the first two films have been rereleased to match the smaller scale of the new figures, as have been toys of the Lizard, the Scorpion, Kraven the Hunter, and Rhino in a style reminiscent of the films. Techno Source created interactive toys, including a "hand-held Battle Tronics device that straps to the inside of a player's wrist and mimics Spidey's web-slinging motions". Japanese Medicom Toy Corporation produced collectables, which Sideshow Collectibles distributed in the U.S. A prequel comic was released in June, 2007 and another comic called "Spider-Man 3: The Black", which expands the birth of Venom, was released in November, 2007.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: "Spider-Man 3" had its world premiere at Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills in Tokyo on April 16, 2007. The film held its UK premiere on April 23, 2007 at the Odeon Leicester Square, and the U.S. premiere took place at the Tribeca Film Festival in Queens on April 30, 2007.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: "Spider-Man 3" was commercially released in sixteen territories on May 1, 2007. The film was released in Japan on May 1, 2007, three days prior to the American commercial release, to coincide with Japan's Golden Week. "Spider-Man 3" was also released in China on May 3, 2007 to circumvent market growth of unlicensed copies of the film. The studio's release of a film in China before its domestic release was a first for Sony Pictures Releasing International. By May 6, 2007, "Spider-Man 3" had opened in 107 countries around the world.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: The film was commercially released in the United States on May 4, 2007 in a North American record total of 4,253 theaters, including fifty-three IMAX theaters. The record number of theaters was later beaten by "", which was released in 4,362 theaters in the United States—109 more than "Spider-Man 3". It was the ninth film to play in more than 4,000 theaters upon opening, just after "Shrek 2", "Spider-Man 2", "Shark Tale", "Madagascar", "", "Over the Hedge", "Superman Returns" and "". Tracking data a month before the U.S. release reflected over 90% awareness and over 20% first choice among moviegoers, statistics that estimated an opening weekend of over $100 million for "Spider-Man 3". Online tickets for "Spider-Man 3" were reported on April 23, 2007 to have been purchased at a faster rate—three times at Movietickets.com and four times at Fandango—than online ticket sales for "Spider-Man 2". On May 2, 2007, Fandango reported the sales rate as six times greater than the rate for "Spider-Man 2". The strong ticket sales caused theaters to add 3:00 AM showings following the May 4, 2007 midnight showing to accommodate the demand.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: The FX channel signed a five-year deal for the television rights to "Spider-Man 3", which they began airing in 2009. The price was based on the film's box office performance, with an option for three opportunities for Sony to sell the rights to one or more other broadcast networks.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: "Spider-Man 3" was released on Region 4 DVD (anamorphic widescreen) in Australia on September 18, 2007. For Region 2 in the United Kingdom, the film was released on October 15, 2007. "Spider-Man 3" was released on DVD in Region 1 territories on October 30, 2007. The film is available in one-disc and two-disc editions, on both standard and Blu-ray formats, as well as packages with the previous films and a PSP release. Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Ziskin, Avi Arad, and Grant Curtis are among those who contributed to the audio commentaries.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Sony announced plans to create "one of the largest" marketing campaigns in Hollywood for the October 30, 2007 release of the DVD. Beginning with a partnership with Papa John's, Sony printed close to 8.5 billion impressions for pizza boxes, television, radio, and online ads. Sony also worked with Pringles Potato Crisp, Blu Tack, Jolly Time Pop Corn, and Nutella. Sony's Vice President of Marketing, Jennifer Anderson, stated the studio spent approximately 15% to 25% of its marketing budget on digital ad campaigns; from this, Papa John's sent text messages to mobile phones with ads. Anderson stated that there would be three sweepstakes held for consumers, where they would be able to win prizes from Sony and its promotional partners.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: In the United States, the film grossed more than on DVD sales. It also grossed more than $43.76 million on DVD/Home Video Rentals in 11 weeks. However, the DVD sales results of this film did not meet industry expectations. It was ranked in third place on the sales chart, behind "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" and "Ratatouille". The film's DVD sales were limited due to Sony's decision to bundle the Blu-ray version of the film with its new PlayStation 3 game console and Blu-ray player. "Spider-Man 3" was included in "The Spider-Man Legacy Collection" which includes five major "Spider-Man" films in a 4K UHD Blu-Ray collection which was released on October 17, 2017.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: In 2017, Sony released an "editor's cut" of "Spider-Man 3" that coincided with the film's 10th anniversary, which is included with the "Spider-Man Limited Edition" Blu-ray collection on June 13, 2017. The film features unused music from Christopher Young and is two minutes shorter than the theatrical cut. Some scenes are shifted around or have been completely removed, and the film includes 3 new scenes, 3 alternate climax sequences, and 1 extended scene. "Spider-Man 3: Editor's Cut" was later re-released with the "Spider-Man Legacy Collection" 4K Blu-ray Box Set.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: "Spider-Man 3" earned $336.5 million in North America and $558.4 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $894.9 million. Worldwide, it is the third-highest-grossing film of 2007, the highest-grossing film of Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy, and was the highest-grossing film distributed by Sony/Columbia until 2012's "Skyfall". The film set a worldwide single-day record ($104 million) on its first Friday and broke its own record again on Saturday ($117.6 million). It also set a worldwide opening-weekend record with $381.7 million. The film's IMAX screenings reached $20 million in 30 days, faster than any other 2D film remastered in the format.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: In North America, "Spider-Man 3" is the 58th-highest-grossing film, the third-highest-grossing film of the "Spider-Man" series, the third-highest-grossing film distributed by Sony/Columbia, and the highest-grossing 2007 film. The film sold an estimated 48,914,300 tickets. It was released in 4,252 theaters (about 10,300 screens) on Friday, May 4, 2007. This broke the previous record held by "Shrek 2" for having the largest number of screenings. It set an opening- and single-day record with $59.8 million (both were first surpassed by "The Dark Knight"). This included $10 million from midnight showings. "Spider-Man 3" then set an opening-weekend record with $151.1 million (first surpassed by "The Dark Knight"), a record for the weekend per-theater average with $35,540 per theater (first surpassed by ""), and an IMAX opening-weekend record with $4.8 million (first surpassed by "The Dark Knight"). It would hold the record for having the highest opening weekend for any film featuring Spider-Man until it was surpassed by "" less than a decade later in 2016. 15 years later in 2022, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" dethroned "Spider-Man 3" for having the largest opening weekend for a Sam Raimi film. The film set record Friday and Sunday grosses and achieved the largest cumulative gross through its second, third, and fourth day of release (all were first surpassed by "The Dark Knight"). It also set a record Saturday gross (surpassed by "Marvel's The Avengers"). When the film was released, it was ranked in first place at the box office, just ahead of "Disturbia". It would also dominate films that were released during the 2007 spring season, such as "Meet the Robinsons", "Fracture" and "Blades of Glory". When "Shrek the Third" opened two weeks later, "Spider-Man 3" dropped into second place.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Outside North America, it is the 23rd-highest-grossing film, the highest-grossing film of Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy, and the third-highest-grossing film distributed by Sony/Columbia. On its opening day (Tuesday, May 1, 2007), "Spider-Man 3" grossed $29.2 million from 16 territories, an 86% increase from the intake of "Spider-Man 2" on its first day of release. In 10 of the 16 territories, "Spider-Man 3" set new opening-day records. These territories are Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines, France, and Italy. In Germany, the film surpassed the opening day gross of "Spider-Man 2". It also crushed "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"s record for scoring the biggest opening day in France, earning $6.8 million. "Spider-Man 3" had the third-highest opening of any film in Austria, after "" and "". Its Japanese opening generated a total of $3.7 million, making it the country's highest Tuesday gross of any film, breaking the former record held by "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". Meanwhile, in the UK, the film beat "" to have the country's largest opening weekend. During its six-day opening weekend (through its first Sunday), the film earned $230.5 million from 107 markets, finishing #1 in all of them. "Spider-Man 3" set opening-weekend records in 29 markets including Italy, China, South Korea (the latter was first surpassed by ""), India, Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Peru. However, many of these records were achieved thanks to its six-day opening, while previous record-holders in some countries opened over the traditional three-day weekend (traditional two-, four-, or five-day weekend in other countries). In India, it grossed $16.4 million and was the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2007 there. The combined total worldwide opening gross of $381.7 million surpassed the record that was previously held by "Revenge of the Sith". "Spider-Man 3" would hold that record until "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" took it in 2009. Russia and Ukraine both earned $7.4 million from 671 screens, dethroning "The Da Vinci Code". Moreover, five Asian countries had overturned a ten-year record that was held by "". As for South Korea, "Spider-Man 3" crossed over "The Matrix Reloaded" for a local currency mark for a Hollywood release, as well as surpassing "The Host". In Japan, it earned a total of $26.5 million, kicking the previous record held by "The Matrix Reloaded". "Spider-Man 3" was in first place at the box office outside North America for three consecutive weekends.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, "Spider-Man 3" holds approval rating based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads, "Though there are more characters and plotlines, and the action sequences still dazzle, "Spider-Man 3" nonetheless isn't quite as refined as the first two." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 59 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" deplored the film's pacing as "mostly just plods" and said it lacked humor. Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film a two out of four stars, feeling, "for every slam-bang action sequence, there are far too many sluggish scenes". David Edelstein of "New York" magazine misses the "centrifugal threat" of Alfred Molina's character, adding that "the three villains here don't add up to one Doc Ock" (referring to Molina's portrayal of the character in "Spider-Man 2"). James Berardinelli felt director Sam Raimi "overreached his grasp" by allowing so many villains, specifically saying, "Venom is one bad guy too many". Roger Ebert, who gave "Spider-Man 2" a glowing review, gave the sequel two out of four stars and thought Church never expressed how Sandman felt about his new powers, something Molina, as Doc Ock in "Spider-Man 2", did "with a vengeance"; he said the film was "a mess," with too many villains, subplots, romantic misunderstandings, conversations and "street crowds looking high into the air and shouting 'oooh!' this way, then swiveling and shouting 'aaah!' that way". "The New Yorker"s Anthony Lane, who gave "Spider-Man 2" a favorable review, gave the film a negative review, characterizing the film as a "shambles" which "makes the rules up as it goes along".


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Roger Friedman of Fox News called the film a "4-star opera", noting that while long, there was plenty of humor and action. Andy Khouri of Comic Book Resources praised the film as "easily the most complex and deftly orchestrated superhero epic ever filmed… despite the enormous amount of characters, action and sci-fi superhero plot going on in this film, "Spider-Man 3" never feels weighted down, tedious or boring". Jonathan Ross, a big fan of the comic books, felt the film was the best of the trilogy. Richard Corliss of "Time" commended the filmmakers for their ability to "dramatize feelings of angst and personal betrayal worthy of an Ingmar Bergman film, and then to dress them up in gaudy comic-book colors". Wesley Morris of "The Boston Globe", who gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, wrote that it was a well-made, fresh film, but would leave the viewer "overfulfilled". Jonathan Dean of "Total Film" felt the film's complex plot helped the film's pacing, in that, "it rarely feels disjointed or loose… Spider-Man cements its shelf-life". "IGN" critic Todd Gilchrist felt that the film served as a satisfying conclusion to the series, and ultimately rated it with eight stars out of ten. "Entertainment Weekly" named the Sandman as the eighth best computer-generated film character. "Screen Rant" cited Sandman along with Doctor Octopus, as the best villain of the trilogy, while "The Washington Post" ranked him the sixth best villain of all the live-action Spider-Man films.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: John Hartl of MSNBC gave "Spider-Man 3" a positive review, but stated that it has some flaws such as having "too many storylines". His opinion is echoed by "Houston Chronicle"s Amy Biancolli who complained that "the script is busy with so many supporting characters and plot detours that the series' charming idiosyncrasy is sometimes lost in the noise". Jack Matthews of "Daily News" thought the film was too devoted to the "quiet conversations" of Peter and Mary Jane, but that fans would not be disappointed by the action. Finally, Sean Burns of "Philadelphia Weekly" felt that the director "substituted scope and scale for the warmth and wit that made those two previous pictures so memorable".


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Raimi himself would later call the film "awful" during a 2014 interview. In 2018, Avi Arad accepted responsibility for pushing Raimi to include Venom in the film, and how the end result had disappointed many fans of the character, saying "I think we learned that Venom is not a sideshow. In all fairness, I'll take the guilt because of what Sam Raimi used to say in all of these interviews feeling guilty that I forced him into it". In 2021, Raimi acknowledged that the negative internet reaction to "Spider-Man 3" at the time felt "awful" and had been difficult for him to take, but when his agent told him that he was being considered by Marvel Studios to direct "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" (2022), he wondered if he could do another superhero film but ultimately decided to direct the film.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Following its initial mixed reception, "Spider-Man 3" has gained widespread meme popularity on social media. Peter Parker's corrupted personality under the Venom symbiote has been nicknamed "Bully Maguire" or "Emo Peter Parker" and has helped increase the popularity of the film among the millennial and Gen-Z generations. The character's strutting the streets during the film's climatic montage scene was used as an option content on "Destiny 2". Em Casalena of "Screen Rant" reassessed it as the fourth most underrated superhero film ever made.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Both the 35th Annie Awards and 61st British Academy Film Awards gave this movie one nomination, the former for Best Animated Effects and the latter for Best Special Visual Effects. "Spider-Man 3" did not win any of the four Visual Effects Society Awards nominations it received. Dunst's and Maguire's performances earned them each one nomination from the National Movie Awards. She also received another nomination for Favorite Movie Actress from the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards ceremony. The movie fared better at the Teen Choice Awards, amounting a total of seven nominations, varying from Choice Movie Villain (for Grace) to Choice Movie Dance (for Maguire) and Choice Movie Liplock (shared between Maguire and Dunst).


title: Spider-Man 3

text: In 2007, "Spider-Man 4" entered development, with Raimi attached to direct and Maguire, Dunst and other cast members set to reprise their roles. Both a fourth and a fifth film were planned and at one time the idea of shooting the two sequels concurrently was under consideration. Raimi said in March 2009 that only the fourth film was in development at that time and that if there were fifth and sixth films, those two films would actually be a continuation of each other. James Vanderbilt was hired in October 2007 to pen the screenplay after initial reports in January 2007 that Sony Pictures was in contact with David Koepp, who wrote the first "Spider-Man" film. The script was subsequently rewritten by Pulitzer-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire in November 2008 and rewritten again by Gary Ross in October 2009. Sony also engaged Vanderbilt to write scripts for "Spider-Man 5" and "Spider-Man 6".


title: Spider-Man 3

text: In 2007, Raimi expressed interest in portraying the transformation of Dr. Curt Connors into his villainous alter-ego, the Lizard, a villain which had been teased since "Spider-Man 2"; the character's actor Dylan Baker and producer Grant Curtis were also enthusiastic about the idea. By December 2009, John Malkovich was in negotiations to play Vulture and Anne Hathaway would play Felicia Hardy, though she would not have transformed into the Black Cat as in the comics but a new superpowered figure, the Vulturess. Raimi later clarified in a 2013 interview that Hathaway would have portrayed Black Cat if "Spider-Man 4" had been made.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Sony Pictures announced in January 2010 that plans for "Spider-Man 4" had been canceled due to Raimi's withdrawal from the project. Raimi reportedly ended his participation due to his doubt that he could meet the planned May 6, 2011 release date while at the same time upholding the film creatively. Raimi purportedly went through four iterations of the script with different screenwriters and still "hated it".


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Following the appearance of Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker in "", a fan campaign has been trending on Twitter under the name #MakeRaimiSpiderMan4, calling for Sony to make a fourth film in the "Spider-Man" series directed by Sam Raimi with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. Raimi later expressed interest in doing so in April 2022, noting that another sequel to his Spider-Man trilogy was possible after the introduction of the Multiverse in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and his MCU film "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" (2022). He stated the next month that he had no plans to direct "Spider-Man 4", but would do so if offered the opportunity to direct a story he approved of.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: A reboot of the series titled "The Amazing Spider-Man" was released on July 4, 2012, with Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker. A sequel, "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", was released on May 2, 2014.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Following the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, leaked information from the hack indicated that prior to the cancellation of future "The Amazing Spider-Man" films, Sony was in talks with Sam Raimi about having him direct "Spider-Man vs. The Amazing Spider-Man", a multiversal crossover film featuring Garfield's Spider-Man encounter Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man (with Maguire reprising his role), as well as a new film trilogy starring Maguire (following Garfield's firing) as a middle-aged Spider-Man years after the events of "Spider-Man 3"; these plans were ultimately scrapped in favor of a Marvel Studios-produced reboot set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), beginning with "" (2016), with Tom Holland cast as Spider-Man.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: In a 2014 "Wall Street Journal" article, it was revealed that prior to Sony's 2015 decision to integrate the character of Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the studio considered a concept for a crossover film between Raimi's and Marc Webb's films, tentatively titled "Spider-Man vs. The Amazing Spider-Man" in which Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield would have reprised their roles as their respective iterations of Spider-Man. Raimi was reportedly the first choice to direct, but the project did not get past the early development stage with no public announcements on the project ever made. Sony also reportedly considered inviting Raimi to do another solo trilogy with Tobey Maguire following the critically lukewarm reception and financial underperformance of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" (2014), but the project was eventually scrapped.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: As of 2022, Sam Raimi directed the Second Doctor Strange film which sparked interest into making Spiderman 4 a reality. However details and confirmations on this reprisal currently remains unknown as of November.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: Following the underwhelming critical and commercial reception of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", Sony and Marvel Studios announced in February 2015 that a new iteration of Spider-Man would appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the character appearing in "". As part of the agreement, Sony Pictures continued to finance, distribute, own and have final creative control of the "Spider-Man" films. Marvel Studios and Sony will explore opportunities to integrate other characters of the MCU into future "Spider-Man" films. Sony released a standalone film titled "", produced by Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal, on July 7, 2017 with Tom Holland starring as the new Spider-Man.


title: Spider-Man 3

text: "" (2021) continues the story arc of the MCU's iteration of Spider-Man in addition to using the multiverse to link the Marvel Studios films with Sony Pictures' preceding "Spider-Man" film franchises from Sam Raimi and Marc Webb. Maguire, Dafoe and Church all reprised their respective roles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Norman Osborn / Green Goblin and Flint Marko / Sandman from "Spider-Man 3", appearing in supporting roles alongside other actors from previous films based on the characters outside the MCU's cast, including the Sam Raimi trilogy's version of Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus from "Spider-Man 2", reprised by Alfred Molina. They are joined by Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx and Rhys Ifans, who reprise their respective roles as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Maxwell Dillon / Electro and Curt Connors / Lizard from Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man" films.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Halo is a military science fiction media franchise, originally developed by Bungie and currently managed and developed by 343 Industries, part of Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios. The series launched in 2001 with the first-person shooter video game "" and its tie-in novel, "". The latest main game, "Halo Infinite", was released in 2021.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: "Combat Evolved" started life as a real-time strategy game, before morphing into a first-person shooter and releasing as an exclusive on Microsoft's new Xbox video game console after Bungie was acquired by the company. Bungie regained its independence in 2007, releasing additional "Halo" games through 2010. Microsoft established 343 Industries to direct the franchise going forward, and has produced games itself and in partnership with other studios.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: "Combat Evolved" was a critical and commercial success, serving as the Xbox's "killer app" and cementing Microsoft as a major player in the video game console space. Its sequels expanded the franchise's commercial and critical success, and have sold more than 81 million copies worldwide. With more than $6 billion in franchise grosses, "Halo" is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time, spanning novels, graphic novels, comic books, short films, animated films, feature films, and other licensed products.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Mantle of Responsibility belonged to the Precursors, who gave all life to the galaxy. However, the Precursors wanted to give such power, instead of to the Forerunners as originally planned, to the human race. In retaliation, the Forerunners drove the Precursors into extinction. Instead of fighting back, the Precursors let themselves die to their creations, turning into a dust to later become themselves once again. It spread like wildfire due to ancient humans rubbing the powders on their pets, believing it helped their pets to live longer. However, instead of helping their pets, it eventually infected and contorted them into a new parasitic species, connected by a hivemind to the minds of the last Precursors: The Flood. The Forerunners fought the Flood, which spread through an infestation of sentient life and had overrun much of the Milky Way Galaxy. Exhausting all other strategies, the Forerunners conceived the Halo Array — ring-shaped megastructures and weapons of last resort that would destroy all sentient life in the galaxy to stop the Flood. Delaying as long as they could, the Forerunners activated the rings and disappeared.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Nearly a hundred thousand years later in the 26th century, humanity—under the auspices of the United Nations Space Command, or UNSC—colonized many worlds thanks to the development of faster-than-light "slipstream space" (i.e. hyperspace) travel. Tensions between the government and colonies desiring independence sparked violent clashes. The UNSC sponsored the SPARTAN-II Project to create an elite group of enhanced supersoldiers to suppress the rebellions covertly. In the year 2525, human worlds come under attack by an theocratic alliance of alien races known as the Covenant, whose leadership declared humanity heretics and an affront to their gods—the Forerunners. The Covenant began a genocidal holy war. Their superior technology and numbers proved decisive advantages; though effective, the Spartans were too few in number to turn the tide of battle in humanity's favor. After the Covenant invaded Reach, the UNSC's last major stronghold besides Earth, Master Chief John-117 was left as one of the few remaining Spartans.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The rediscovery of the Halo rings set the humans against the Covenant, who believed they were instruments of transcendence, not destruction. Master Chief and his artificial intelligence Cortana were instrumental in the destruction of a Halo ring to stop the Covenant and the threat of the Flood. The Covenant descended into civil war following the expulsion of the Sangheili species, with many grappling over the revelation that their religion was false. The disgraced former Covenant Sangheili commander known as the Arbiter, along with the rest of his race, helped the humans destroy the Covenant and stop its leader, Truth, from activating the Halo Array via the Ark. The Human-Covenant War ended, though new conflicts begin to emerge throughout the universe.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: In the post-war era, the UNSC creates a new generation of Spartans, and tensions between the UNSC and colonist rebels resumed. The Forerunner known as the Didact briefly returns to assert supremacy over humanity, though he is foiled by the Master Chief and Cortana, who is initially believed dead in the attempt. Cortana's survival through the Forerunner repository of knowledge known as the Domain leads her to break with the UNSC and assert a new hegemony over the galaxy, with artificial intelligence (the "Created") in control. After two years of a scattered war between Cortana and the UNSC, Cortana attacks the Banished, a mercenary organization largely led by the Jiralhanae race. The Banished win the resultant conflict, terminating Cortana and battle the UNSC for control of Zeta Halo.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Video game developer Bungie was founded in 1991 by Alex Seropian in Chicago, Illinois, who partnered with programmer Jason Jones to market and release Jones' game "". Focusing on the Macintosh game market because it was smaller and easier to compete, Bungie became a preeminent game developer on the small Apple Macintosh platform. What became "" started as a real-time strategy game for the Mac, originally code-named "Monkey Nuts" and "Blam!", and took place on a hollowed-out world called Solipsis. The planet eventually became a ringworld called "Halo", which became the game's title.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: "Halo" was announced on July 21, 1999, during the Macworld Conference & Expo. The game morphed from a real-time strategy game into a third-person action game. On June 19, 2000, Microsoft acquired Bungie and "Halo: Combat Evolved" became a launch title for the Xbox video game console. The game turned into a first-person shooter, and was modified to work with a controller. Though the first "Halo" was meant to include an online multiplayer mode, it was excluded because the Xbox Live service was not yet available.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: "Halo" was not intended to be the Xbox's flagship game due to internal concerns and gaming press criticism, but Microsoft VP of game publishing Ed Fries did not act on these concerns. The Xbox's marketing heavily featured "Halo", whose green color palette meshed with the console's design scheme. "Halo: Combat Evolved" introduced many gameplay and plot themes common to the whole trilogy. Players battle various aliens on foot and in vehicles to complete objectives, while attempting to uncover the secrets of the eponymous Halo. "Halo" limited the number of weapons players could carry to two, forcing them to carefully select their preferred armament. Players fight with ranged and melee attacks, as well as grenades. Bungie referred to the "weapons-grenades-melee" format as the "Golden Triangle of "Halo"". The player's health is measured in both hit points and a perpetually recharging energy shield. Released for the Xbox in November 2001, Windows and Mac OS X ports were later developed by Gearbox Software, and released in 2003. A stand-alone expansion, entitled "Halo: Custom Edition", was released as a Windows exclusive, and allowed players to create custom content for the game.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The success of the game led to a sequel, "Halo 2", which was announced on August 8, 2002, at Microsoft's X02 press event. It featured improved graphics, new weapons and enemies, and a multiplayer mode on Xbox Live. "Halo 2" was released on the Xbox on November 9, 2004, and later for Windows Vista on May 17, 2007. The game was released in two different editions: a standard edition with just the game disc and traditional Xbox packaging; and the Collector's Edition with a specially designed aluminum case, along with an additional bonus DVD, extra booklet, and slightly different user manual. "Halo 2" introduced new gameplay elements, chief among them the ability to hold and fire two weapons simultaneously, known as "dual-wielding". Unlike its predecessor, "Halo 2" fully supported online multiplayer via Xbox LIVE. The game uses "matchmaking" to facilitate joining online matches by grouping players looking for certain types of games. This was a change from the more traditional "server list" approach, which was used to find matches in online games at this time.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: "Halo 3" was announced at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo. It utilized a proprietary, in-house graphics engine, and employed advanced graphics technologies. "Halo 3" is the final game in the original "Halo" trilogy, ending the story arc begun in "Halo: Combat Evolved". The game was released on the Xbox 360 on September 25, 2007. It adds to the series vehicles, weapons, and a class of items called equipment. The game also includes a limited map-editing tool, known as the Forge, which allows players to insert game objects, such as weapons and vehicles, into existing multiplayer map geometry. Players can save a recording of their gameplay sessions, and view them as video, from any angle.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Following "Halo 3"s release, Bungie became an independent company once more. They created two more "Halo" games as part of their deal with Microsoft: a side story "Halo 3: ODST" (2009), and a prequel "Halo: Reach" (2010). "Reach" was Bungie's final work on a "Halo" release.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: While Bungie remained involved in the "Halo" series by developing games such as "ODST" and "Reach", the rights to "Halo" remained with Microsoft. To oversee everything "Halo", Microsoft created an internal division, called 343 Industries, to oversee the franchise.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: 343 had already co-developed the "Halo Legends" animated series and had overseen production of "" and 2011's "". The next game in the series, "Halo 4", was announced at E3 2011 as the first entry in what would be originally known as the "Reclaimer Trilogy". The game included many staples of previous games, such as new or redesigned weapon types, an improved map-editing tool and expanded multiplayer options and maps. "Halo 4" was released worldwide on November 6, 2012, achieving record sales for the franchise. In a new addition to the series, a story-driven multiplayer campaign entitled "Spartan Ops" was released over the weeks following "Halo 4"s release, telling what happened after the end of the main game.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: In announcing the formation of 343 Industries, Microsoft also announced that Xbox Live would be home to a central hub for "Halo" content called Halo Waypoint. Waypoint is accessed from the Xbox 360 Dashboard and offers players access to multimedia content in addition to tracking their "Halo" game "career". O'Connor described Waypoint as intended to be the prime destination for "Halo".


title: Halo (franchise)

text: In December 2014, 343 Industries general manager Bonnie Ross expressed Microsoft's aim for the "Halo" series to last at least 30 more years.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: "", was released for the Xbox One on October 27, 2015. The game takes place across many worlds, mainly the Sangheili homeworld, and revolves around Spartan Locke's hunt for the rogue Master Chief, who is trying to find Cortana.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The third part of the Reclaimer Saga, "Halo Infinite", was announced during E3 2018. It brings the focus back to Master Chief, and Halo's roots by taking place on the new Zeta Halo. The story mainly focuses on exploring the deeper lore of the "Halo" series, the aftermath of the war with Cortana, and battles with the Banished. It released December 2021.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The success of the main "Halo" trilogy spurred the creation of spin-off games. "Halo Wars" is a real-time strategy game developed by Ensemble Studios for the Xbox 360. Set in the year 2531, the game takes place 21 years prior to the events of "Halo: Combat Evolved". Much effort was spent on developing a control scheme that was simple and intuitive, unlike other console strategy games. The game was announced at X06, and released in February and March 2009.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: In October 2017, 343 Industries developed and released a virtual reality demo title in partnership with Endeavor One called "Halo Recruit".


title: Halo (franchise)

text: In 2018, 343 Industries partnered with Raw Thrills and PlayMechanix to develop a coin-operated arcade game called "" that was released in the later part of 2018, with Round1 USA and Dave & Buster's arcades releasing first.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Alternative reality games have been used to promote the release of "Halo" games, beginning with the Cortana Letters, a series of cryptic email messages, circulated by Bungie prior to "Halo: Combat Evolved"s release. "I Love Bees" was used to promote the release of "Halo 2". The game revolved around a website created by 42 Entertainment, commissioned by Microsoft and endorsed by Bungie. Over the course of the game, audio clips were released that eventually formed a complete five-hour story set on Earth between "Halo" and "Halo 2". Similarly, "Iris" was used as a viral marketing campaign for the release of "Halo 3". It featured five web servers containing various media files related to the "Halo" universe.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Several spin-off titles were planned or rumored for the Game Boy Advance, Gizmondo, Ultra-Mobile PC, and Nintendo DS. Microsoft announced an episodic video game to be developed by film director Peter Jackson's Wingnut Interactive in 2006.<ref name="bungie-update4/25/08"></ref> The game, "Halo: Chronicles", was ultimately cancelled as part of budget cuts tied to job layoffs in January 2009.<ref name="gamasutra-07/09 reports"></ref> Ensemble Studios developed a "Halo"-themed massively multiplayer online game, often referred to as "Titan Project", or just "Titan". The project was cancelled internally in 2007–2008, without a formal announcement from Microsoft.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: 343 Industries announced a free-to-play "Halo" multiplayer game for Windows PC, "Halo Online", in 2015. The game launched with a closed beta test limited to Russia that year. The title was developed with Saber Interactive using modified version of the "Halo 3" engine, and published by Innova Systems. The project was cancelled in August 2016. Players modified the game to circumvent the region limitations and add new content after the project's official cancellation. The "ElDewrito" project saw legal takedowns from Microsoft for violating its game usage rules. Despite this, ElDewrito's playerbase remained active, and the modders claimed its popularity hastened Microsoft's plans to release a Windows version of "Halo: The Master Chief Collection".


title: Halo (franchise)

text: "Halo" characters have appeared in tie-ins, such as the characters Spartan Nicole-458 and the Arbiter being playable fighters in "Dead or Alive 4" and "Killer Instinct: Season Three", respectively. Master Chief was added as a playable character in "Fortnite" alongside a stage inspired by a "Halo" multiplayer map in 2020.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Another game, "Halo 2600", has the players control Master Chief and fight through four regions filled with enemies. It was written by Ed Fries, former vice president of game publishing at Microsoft, in 2010 for the Atari 2600.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The "Halo" theme tune was also available as downloadable content for "". In "Forza Horizon 4" one level has the player racing across the map in the Warthog as the Master Chief, with the Halo ring visible in the sky, Cortana on the radio and various Covenant based obstacles to avoid.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: In 2006, in acknowledgment of the "wealth of influences adopted by the Bungie team", a list of Bungie employees' favorite science fiction material was published on the company's website. The developers acknowledged that the "Halo" series' use of ring-shaped megastructures followed on from concepts featured in Larry Niven's "Ringworld" and Iain M. Banks' Culture series (of which "Consider Phlebas" and "Excession" were said to be particularly influential). In a retrospective article in "Edge", Bungie's Jaime Griesemer commented, "The influence of something like "Ringworld" isn't necessarily in the design – it's in that feeling of being somewhere else. That sense of scale and an epic story going on out there." Griesemer also explained, "One of the main sources of inspiration was "Armor" [by John Steakley], in which a soldier has to constantly re-live the same war over and over again. That sense of hopelessness, a relentless battle, was influential." The Flood were influenced by the assimilating alien species in Christopher Rowley's "The Vang"; it has also been speculated that the Master Chief's name "John 117" may have been a reference to a character named Jon 6725416 in Rowley's "Starhammer", or to the John Spartan character of "Demolition Man". An IGN article exploring the literary influences present in the "Halo" franchise commented on similarities between "Halo" and Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game": aspects of the SPARTAN Project and the design of the Covenant Drones are perceived as reminiscent of the super soldier program and Buggers found in the novel. Bungie has also acknowledged James Cameron's film "Aliens" as a strong cinematic influence.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: A report written by Roger Travis and published by "The Escapist" compares "Halo" with the Latin epic "Aeneid", written by classical Roman poet Virgil. Travis posits similarities between the plots of both works and compares the characters present in them, with the Flood and Covenant taking the role performed by the Carthaginians, and the Master Chief's role in the series to that of Aeneas.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori collaborated to produce the soundtracks for Bungie's "Halo" games. Approached by Bungie to produce something ancient and mysterious for "Halo"s debut, O'Donnell decided to compose a theme using Gregorian chant, joining in with others to sing the vocal parts. Due to the varying nature of gameplay, the music was designed to use change dynamically based on the gameplay. To afford a more enjoyable listening experience, O'Donnell rearranged portions of the music of "Halo" into standalone suites, which follow the narrative course of the game, for the soundtrack releases. For "Halo 2", the soundtrack included licensed music from Incubus and Breaking Benjamin alongside the orchestral score; rock guitar virtuoso, Steve Vai, performed various solos throughout the score.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: For "Halo 2"s soundtrack, producer Nile Rodgers and O'Donnell decided to split the music into two separate volumes. The first, Volume One, was released on November 9, 2004, and contained all the themes as well as the "inspired-by" music present in the game (featuring Steve Vai, Incubus, Hoobastank, and Breaking Benjamin). The second release, Volume 2, contained the rest of the music, much of which was incomplete or not included in the first soundtrack, as the first soundtrack was shipped before the game was released. "Halo 2", unlike its predecessor, was mixed to take full advantage of Dolby 5.1 Digital Surround Sound. In 2014, the in-game music was rerecorded and remastered for the Halo 2 Anniversary release which was part of the Master Chief Collection which included remastered versions of all Halo games with Master Chief as the protagonist.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The soundtrack for "Halo 3" was released on November 20, 2007. O'Donnell noted he wanted to bring back the themes from the original game to help tie together the end of the trilogy. The tracks are presented, similarly to the , in a suite form. Unlike previous soundtracks, where much of the music had been synthesized on computer, the soundtrack for "Halo 3" was recorded using a 60-piece orchestra, along with a 24-voice chorus. The final soundtrack was recorded by the Northwest Sinfonia at Studio X in Seattle, Washington. The soundtracks were bundled and released as a box set in December 2008. A soundtrack for "Halo 3: ODST" was released alongside the game and included many of the tracks from the game.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: For Bungie's last game in the Halo series, "Halo: Reach", Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori returned to compose the soundtrack. O'Donnell wrote "somber, more visceral" music to reflect the darker nature of the campaign and style of the game. As Bungie had been making "Halo 3: ODST" and "Halo: Reach" at the same time, Martin O'Donnell had also been composing the soundtracks at the same time, but production for the music of "Halo: Reach" did not begin until after the release of "Halo 3: ODST". The soundtrack was released on iTunes on September 15, 2010, and in a two-disc set on September 28, 2010.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: For "Halo Wars", the task of creating the game's music fell to Stephen Rippy. Rippy listened to O'Donnell's soundtracks for inspiration and incorporated the "Halo" theme into parts of his arrangements. In addition to synthesized and orchestral components, the composer focused on the choir and piano as essential elements, feeling these were important in creating the ""Halo" sound". Rather than use the Northwest Sinfonia, Rippy traveled to Prague and recorded with the FILMharmonic Orchestra before returning to the United States to complete the music. A standalone compact disc and digital download retail version of the soundtrack was announced in January 2009 for release on February 17.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The music of "Halo 4" was composed by Neil Davidge and Kazuma Jinnouchi. The "Halo 4 Original Soundtrack" was released on October 22, 2012, followed by a two-disc Special Edition on November 6. Neil Davidge served as an out-of-house composer for 343 Industries which proved to be very expensive leading Kazuma Jinnouchi to take over the responsibility of music production for "Halo 5: Guardians". The music by Neil Davidge and Kazuma Jinnouchi for "Halo 4" received mixed reviews, being recognized as creative music but too different from the original Halo formula.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: In 2014, Kazuma Jinnouchi confirmed he would be composing the soundtrack for "". On October 30, 2015, "Halo 5: Guardians Original Soundtrack" was released on CD and Vinyl. The soundtrack used a 30-person choir located in Prague, Czech Republic. The orchestral soundtrack was recorded at the Abbey Road Studio over the duration of 5 separate trips.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: In 2017, 343 Industries and Creative Studios released a sequel to "Halo Wars" titled "Halo Wars 2". The soundtrack was composed by Gordy Haab, Brian Lee White and Brian Trifo under the direction of Paul Lipson who had helped in the audio and music of nearly every previous Halo title. The "Halo Wars 2" soundtrack featured many melodies from the music that Stephen Rippy had composed for the first "Halo Wars" but with new arrangements and more melodies to represent the individual characters. The original game soundtrack was released on February 17, 2017, and released digitally on February 21, 2017.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The "Halo" franchise includes various types of merchandise and adaptations outside of the video games. This includes bestselling novels, graphic novels, and other licensed products, from action figures to a packaging tie-in with Mountain Dew. Numerous action figures and vehicles based on "Halo" have been produced. Joyride Studios created "Halo" and "Halo 2" action figures, while "Halo 3" poseable and collectible action figures, aimed at collectors, were produced by McFarlane Toys and became some of the top-selling action figures of 2007 and 2008. MEGA Bloks partnered with Microsoft to produce "Halo Wars"-themed toys.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: As part of Microsoft's multimedia efforts, Microsoft Studios decided to create a tie-in novel for "Combat Evolved". Eric Nylund wrote "" in seven weeks, and published in October 2001. The game itself was turned into a novelization by William C. Dietz in 2003, called "". Nylund would write additional "Halo" works including the novels "" (2003) and "" (2006). Other novels have been written by Joseph Staten, Tobias S. Buckell, Karen Traviss, Greg Bear, Matt Forbeck, John Shirley, Troy Denning, Cassandra Rose Clarke, and Kelly Gay.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: A collection of "Halo" short stories, "Halo: Evolutions", was simultaneously released in print and audiobook formats in November 2009. "Evolutions" includes original material by Nylund, Buckell, Karen Traviss and contributions from Bungie. Tor re-released the first three "Halo" novels with new content and cover art. Another collection, "Halo: Fractures", compiled new and previously released short fiction in 2016.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The "Halo" universe was first adapted into the graphic novel format in 2006, with the release of "The Halo Graphic Novel", a collection of four short stories. It was written and illustrated by graphic novelists Lee Hammock, Jay Faerber, Tsutomu Nihei, Brett Lewis, Simon Bisley, Ed Lee and Jean Giraud. At the 2007 New York Comic Con, Marvel Comics announced they would be working on an ongoing "Halo" series with Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. The limited series, titled "", bridges the gap between the events of "Halo 2" and "Halo 3"; initially planned to conclude shortly before the release of "Halo 3", the constant delays led to the final issue being published April 2009.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Marvel announced at the 2009 Comic Con that two new comics, a five-part series written by Peter David and a second series written by Fred Van Lente, would appear the coming summer and winter. David's series, "Halo: Helljumper", is set prior to "Halo: Combat Evolved" and focuses on the elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. The five-part series was published between July and November 2009. Lente's series, originally titled "Spartan Black", revolves around a black ops team of Spartan supersoldiers assigned to the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence. The rebranded comic, "Halo: Blood Line", debuted in December 2009. A comic-retelling of the novel "Halo: The Fall of Reach" was the most recent comic series entitled: "Halo: Fall of Reach". "Fall of Reach" was split into three mini-stories: "Boot Camp", "Covenant", and "Invasion". Two new series were announced in 2013. A three-part series, "Halo: Initiation" was released August 2013 with Brian Reed returning as writer. Also announced was "Halo: Escalation", an ongoing comic series covering the period directly after "Halo 4".


title: Halo (franchise)

text: By August 2021, the Halo series consisted of thirteen different graphic novels and comic book series, written by various authors.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: In 2005, Columbia Pictures president Peter Schlessel began working outside the studio system to produce a "Halo" film adaptation. Alex Garland wrote a script, which was then pitched to studios by couriers dressed as Master Chief. Microsoft's terms required $10 million against 15 percent of gross; most studios passed, citing the lack of risk for Microsoft compared to their large share of potential profits. 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures decided to partner to produce the film, paying Microsoft $5 million to option the film and 10 percent of grosses. Peter Jackson was slated to be the executive producer, with Neill Blomkamp as director. Before Blomkamp signed on, Guillermo del Toro was in negotiations to direct.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: D. B. Weiss and Josh Olson rewrote Garland's script during 2006. Pre-production of the film was halted and restarted several times. Later that year, 20th Century Fox threatened to pull out of the project, leading Universal to issue an ultimatum to Jackson and Schlessel: either reduce their large "first-dollar" revenue deals, or the project was ended. Both refused, and the project stalled. Blomkamp declared the project dead in late 2007, though Jackson insisted the film would still be made. Blomkamp and Jackson collaborated on "District 9", but the director told /Film that he was no longer considering working on a "Halo" film if the opportunity arose. The rights for the film have since reverted to Microsoft. Blomkamp would produce a series of live-action shorts as promotion for "Halo 3", collectively titled "Halo: Landfall".


title: Halo (franchise)

text: "Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn" is a live-action film and miniseries set in the Halo universe. Although shot as a feature-length film, "Forward Unto Dawn" was originally released as a webseries consisting of five episodes released between October 5, 2012, and November 2, 2012. The series' plot, occurring in the early days of the Human-Covenant War circa 2526, revolves around Thomas Lasky, a young cadet at Corbulo Academy of Military Science, and how John-117 inspired him to eventually become a leader. Lasky is also a prominent character in "Halo 4" as a commander on the UNSC Infinity. The name of the series, aside from being a reference to the UNSC frigate "Forward Unto Dawn", is given new significance in the series as part a running motif based on a poem. The film cut was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 4, 2012.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: On April 3, 2014, it was announced that Ridley Scott and his production company, Scott Free Productions, were working on a "Halo" digital feature alongside 343 Industries and Xbox Entertainment Studios; Scott would be the executive producer, with David W. Zucker and Sergio Mimica-Gezzan as the directors. The feature was expected to follow the same format as Machinima's "Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn". On June 9, 2014, it was announced at E3 2014 that the feature, titled "Halo: Nightfall", would be included with "Halo: The Master Chief Collection" at its November 2014 launch. The feature introduces a new character to the franchise, Agent Jameson Locke, played by actor Mike Colter; "Nightfall" is considered to be his origin story. Locke is one of the Spartans portrayed on the cover art and plays a large role in the series. On July 24, 2014, 343 Industries released the first trailer for the feature. "Halo: Nightfall" is available to watch through Halo Channel, an application for the Xbox One, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone. On March 16, 2015, the series became available to stream, download, and buy on physical disc.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: On May 21, 2013, Xbox Entertainment Studios and 343 announced that a live-action television show of "Halo" would be produced with Steven Spielberg serving as executive producer through what is now Amblin Television. It was originally titled "Halo: The Television Series". Neill Blomkamp was rumored to be directing the pilot for the series. Xbox Entertainment Studios shut down in 2014. Later, it was announced the series would premiere on the American premium cable network Showtime. It had been in development hell for many years. On March 1, 2018, it was announced that the series would start filming in late 2018, with speculation of the series airing in mid- to late-2019. On June 28, 2018, Kyle Killen was hired as showrunner and executive producer and Rupert Wyatt as director and executive producer. On December 4, 2018, Wyatt stepped down as director and executive producer from the project due to scheduling conflicts. On February 21, 2019, Otto Bathurst replaced Wyatt as director and executive producer. On April 17, 2019, it was announced that Pablo Schreiber was cast as Master Chief. On August 2, 2019, "Deadline" reported that Natascha McElhone had been cast in two key roles: Cortana and Dr. Catherine Halsey, Bokeem Woodbine was also cast as Soren-066, along with Shabana Azmi as Admiral Margaret Parangosky, and Yerin Ha as Kwan Ha. It was also announced that the series would be released in early 2021. Filming was incorrectly reported to have officially began in October 2019. In November 2020, Jen Taylor, who voiced Cortana in every major game in the "Halo" franchise, replaced McElhorne in that role. It then was reported that filming began in February 2021 and that ViacomCBS was shifting the show from Showtime to Paramount+ with Showtime retaining production credits. The series premiered on March 24, 2022.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Microsoft announced at Comic-Con 2009 that it was overseeing production of a series of seven short anime films, together called "Halo Legends". Financed by 343 Industries, the animation was created by six Japanese production houses: Bee Train Production, Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G., Studio 4°C, and Toei Animation. Shinji Aramaki, creator and director of "Appleseed" and "Appleseed Ex Machina", served as the project's creative director. Warner Bros. distributed "Legends" on DVD and Blu-ray in February 2010. Six of the stories are officially part of the "Halo" canon, with the seventh, made by Toei, intended to be a parody of the universe.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: An animated version of "The Fall of Reach" was included in the "Halo 5: Guardians" Limited Edition and Collector's Edition.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The "Halo" franchise has been highly successful commercially and critically. During the two months following "Halo: Combat Evolved"s release, it sold alongside more than fifty percent of Xbox consoles. "Halo 2"s sales generated US$125 million on its premiere day, making it the fastest selling United States media product in history up to that time. Combined with "Halo"s sales, the two games sold 14.8 million units before "Halo 3"s release. At the end of 2007, "Halo 2" and "Halo: Combat Evolved" were the number one and two best-selling Xbox titles, respectively, and "Halo 3" was the best-selling Xbox 360 title. The "Halo" series had sold more than 81 million copies by 2021.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: "Halo"s success led to the term ""Halo" killer" being used to describe console games that aspire, or are considered, to be better than "Halo". It was the Xbox's killer app.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The soundtracks to "Halo 2", "Halo 3", "ODST" and "Reach" all appeared on the Billboard 200 charts for at least one week. By May 2011, total gross of "Halo" merchandise was $2 billion, with 40 million copies of the games sold. The total amount climbed to $2.3 billion in July 2011, and $2.8 billion in January 2012. Total franchise grosses exceeded $4.6 billion by October 2015, with 25% of the figure from non-game-related merchandise.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The "Halo" adaptations have been successful as well. Many of the novels have appeared on "Publishers Weekly"s bestseller charts and the "Halo Graphic Novel" sold more than 100,000 copies, a "rare hit" for the games-to-comics genre. "Ghosts of Onyx", "Contact Harvest", "The Cole Protocol" and the first volume of "Cryptum" appeared on "The New York Times" bestseller lists, and "The Cole Protocol" also opened 50th overall on "USA Today" bestsellers list. Tor's first three novels sold more than one million copies by April 2009.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Overall, the "Halo" series has been very well received by critics. "Halo: Combat Evolved" has received numerous Game of the Year awards. In March 2007, IGN listed it as the top Xbox game of all time, while readers ranked it the fourteenth best game ever on "IGN Readers' Choice 2006 – The Top 100 Games Ever". Conversely, Game Spy ranked "Halo: Combat Evolved" tenth on its list of "Top 25 Most Overrated Games of All Time", citing repetitive level design and the lack of an online multiplayer mode. "Halo 2" also received numerous awards, with IGN listing it as the number two top Xbox game of all time in March 2007. From its initial release on the Xbox in November 2004 until the launch of "Gears of War" on the Xbox 360 in November 2006 – two years later – "Halo 2" was the most popular video game on Xbox Live. "Halo 3" was nominated for and won multiple awards; it won "Time" magazine's "Game of the Year" and IGN chose it as the Best Xbox 360 Online Multiplayer Game and Innovative Design of 2007. Most publications called the multiplayer aspect one of the best features; IGN said the multiplayer map lineup was the strongest of the series, and GameSpy added that the multiplayer offering will greatly please ""Halo" veterans". Complaints focused on the game's plot. "The New York Times" said the game had a "throwaway" plot and Total Video Games judged the single-player aspect ultimately disappointing. The series' music and audio has received enthusiastic response from game reviewers.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The main trilogy, particularly its protagonist, are considered iconic and a symbol of today's video games; a wax replica of Master Chief was made by Madame Tussauds in Las Vegas, where Pete Wentz compared the character to notable characters from previous generations like Spider-Man, Frodo, and Luke Skywalker. "GamesTM" stated "Halo: Combat Evolved" "changed video game combat forever", and "Halo 2" showcased Xbox Live as a tool for communities. Game Daily noted "Halo 2"s launch was "easily comparable to the biggest in other sectors of the entertainment industry", marking the first time a video game launch has become a major cultural event in the United States. "Halo" has been described as a series that "has reinvented a genre that didn't know it needed to be reinvented", with aspects of the main trilogy being duplicated in other first-person shooter games multiple times.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: "Variety" called "Halo" "the equivalent of "Star Wars"". The fandom is referred to as the ""Halo" nation".


title: Halo (franchise)

text: The "Halo" franchise spurred an array of productions in an emerging genre of machinima—the use of games for filmmaking. Most productions are set outside "Halo" canon, while others are based on fan fiction closely relating to the story. "Halo 3" includes a saved film function that allows camera angles not possible in previous games, and other features that simplify production. The game has become one of the most popular tools for generating machinima, and Microsoft updated its user license agreement to allow noncommercial distribution of such films.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: A notable machinima production is the comedy series "Red vs. Blue" created by Rooster Teeth Productions. It has achieved an unparalleled level of success in "Halo" machinima in specific, and machinima in general; it is credited with bringing attention to the genre. "Red vs. Blue" generated annual revenues of US$200,000, and special promotional episodes were commissioned by Bungie. The first series, "The Blood Gulch Chronicles", ended on June 28, 2007, after 100 regular episodes and numerous promotional videos. Subsequent series include "The Recollection", which contains more dramatic elements than its comedic predecessor, "Project Freelancer", "The Chorus Trilogy", Anthology, and The Shisno Paradox. Other machinima series include "Arby ‘n the Chief", "Fire Team Charlie", "The Codex", and the in-game interview show "This Spartan Life".


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Players began creating impromptu "Halo" tournaments and local parties after the release of the first game. Bungie looked at the success of these matches as inspiration for crafting the online multiplayer components of "Halo 2".


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Larger organizations soon began operating "Halo" competitive games. In August 2002, G4 hosted the Halo National Championship Finals, a FFA [free-for-all] tournament involving sixteen players from across the country (hosted by Wil Wheaton of "Star Trek" fame.) The Associates of Gaming Professionals (AGP), which focused solely on "Halo", held its first event in November 2002. Inspired by friends placing bets on their "Halo" matches, Mike Sepso and Sundance DiGiovanni formed Major League Gaming the same year.


title: Halo (franchise)

text: Microsoft and 343 Industries sponsored their own professional "Halo" league, called the Halo Championship Series (HCS), in 2014. It was started in partnership with the Electronic Sports League (ESL). Seasons 1 and 2 ran on "The Master Chief Collection". In August 2015 Microsoft announced it would be increasing the total prize pool of the HCS to $1 million USD, for the newly announced Halo World Championship, which will be the debut event for "Halo 5". This prize pool was later announced to be crowd-funded, which later resulted in Major League Gaming announcing that the prize pool had climbed to $2 million USD. Later that week, 343 announced that the prize pool was locked at $2.5 million USD. This was the largest console esports prize pool ever.


title: Oregon

text: Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. The 42° north parallel delineates the southern boundary with California and Nevada.


title: Oregon

text: Oregon has been home to many indigenous nations for thousands of years. The first European traders, explorers, and settlers began exploring what is now Oregon's Pacific coast in the early-mid 16th century. As early as 1564, the Spanish began sending vessels northeast from the Philippines, riding the Kuroshio Current in a sweeping circular route across the northern part of the Pacific. In 1592, Juan de Fuca undertook detailed mapping and studies of ocean currents in the Pacific Northwest, including the Oregon coast as well as the strait now bearing his name. Spanish ships – 250 in as many years – would typically not land before reaching Cape Mendocino in California, but some landed or wrecked in what is now Oregon. Nehalem tales recount strangers and the discovery of items like chunks of beeswax and a lidded silver vase, likely connected to the 1707 wreck of the "San Francisco Xavier".


title: Oregon

text: In 1843, an autonomous government was formed in the Oregon Country, and the Oregon Territory was created in 1848. Oregon became the 33rd state of the U.S. on February 14, 1859. Today, with 4 million people over , Oregon is the ninth largest and 27th most populous U.S. state. The capital, Salem, is the second-most populous city in Oregon, with 169,798 residents. Portland, with 647,805, ranks as the 26th among U.S. cities. The Portland metropolitan area, which also includes the city of Vancouver, Washington, to the north, ranks the 25th largest metro area in the nation, with a population of 2,453,168.


title: Oregon

text: Oregon is one of the most geographically diverse states in the U.S., marked by volcanoes, abundant bodies of water, dense evergreen and mixed forests, as well as high deserts and semi-arid shrublands. At , Mount Hood, a stratovolcano, is the state's highest point. Oregon's only national park, Crater Lake National Park, comprises the caldera surrounding Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States. The state is also home to the single largest organism in the world, "Armillaria ostoyae", a fungus that runs beneath of the Malheur National Forest.


title: Oregon

text: Because of its diverse landscapes and waterways, Oregon's economy is largely powered by various forms of agriculture, fishing, and hydroelectric power. Oregon is also the top lumber producer of the contiguous United States, with the lumber industry dominating the state's economy during the 20th century. Technology is another one of Oregon's major economic forces, beginning in the 1970s with the establishment of the Silicon Forest and the expansion of Tektronix and Intel. Sportswear company Nike, Inc., headquartered in Beaverton, is the state's largest public corporation with an annual revenue of $30.6 billion.


title: Oregon

text: The origin of the state's name is a mystery. The earliest evidence of the name "Oregon" has Spanish origins. The term "orejón" (meaning "big ear") comes from the historical chronicle "Relación de la Alta y Baja California" (1598), written by Rodrigo Montezuma of New Spain; it made reference to the Columbia River when the Spanish explorers penetrated into the North American territory that became part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. This chronicle is the first topographical and linguistic source with respect to the place name "Oregon". Another possible source is the Spanish word "oregano", which refers to a plant that grows in the southern part of the region. It is also possible that the American territory was named by the Spaniards, as there is a stream in Spain called the "Arroyo del Oregón" (which is located in the province of Ciudad Real), or that the "j" in the Spanish phrase "El Orejón" was later corrupted into a "g", and in context might refer to the 'earful' of the massive Columbia River at its mouth.


title: Oregon

text: Another early use of the name, spelled "Ouragon", was by Major Robert Rogers in a 1765 petition to the Kingdom of Great Britain. The term referred to the then-mythical River of the West (the Columbia River). By 1778, the spelling had shifted to "Oregon". Rogers wrote:


title: Oregon

text: ...from the Great Lakes towards the Head of the Mississippi, and from thence to the River called by the Indians Ouragon...


title: Oregon

text: One theory is that the name comes from the French word "ouragan" ("windstorm" or "hurricane"), which was applied to the River of the West based on Native American tales of powerful Chinook winds on the lower Columbia River, or perhaps from first-hand French experience with the Chinook winds of the Great Plains. At the time, the River of the West was thought to rise in western Minnesota and flow west through the Great Plains.


title: Oregon

text: The name, Oregon, is rounded down phonetically, from "Ouve água"—Oragua, Or-a-gon, Oregon—given probably by the same Portuguese navigator that named the Farallones after his first officer, and it literally, in a large way, means cascades: "Hear the waters." You should steam up the Columbia and hear and feel the waters falling out of the clouds of Mount Hood to understand entirely the full meaning of the name "Ouve a água", Oregon.


title: Oregon

text: Another account, endorsed as the "most plausible explanation" in the book "Oregon Geographic Names", was advanced by George R. Stewart in a 1944 article in "American Speech". According to Stewart, the name came from an engraver's error in a French map published in the early 18th century, on which the Ouisiconsink (Wisconsin) River was spelled "Ouaricon-sint", broken on two lines with the "-sint" below, so there appeared to be a river flowing to the west named "Ouaricon".


title: Oregon

text: According to the Oregon Tourism Commission, present-day Oregonians pronounce the state's name as "or-uh-gun, never or-ee-gone". After being drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2002, former Oregon Ducks quarterback Joey Harrington distributed "Orygun" stickers to members of the media as a reminder of how to pronounce the name of his home state. The stickers are sold by the University of Oregon Bookstore.


title: Oregon

text: Humans have inhabited the area that is now Oregon for at least 15,000 years. In recorded history, mentions of the land date to as early as the 16th century. During the 18th and 19th centuries, European powers—and later the United States—quarreled over possession of the region until 1846, when the U.S. and Great Britain finalized division of the region. Oregon became a state on February 14, 1859, and has more than four million residents.


title: Oregon

text: While there is considerable evidence that Paleo-Indians inhabited the region, the oldest evidence of habitation in Oregon was found at Fort Rock Cave and the Paisley Caves in Lake County. Archaeologist Luther Cressman dated material from Fort Rock to 13,200 years ago, and there is evidence supporting inhabitants in the region at least 15,000 years ago. By 8000 BC there were settlements throughout the state, with populations concentrated along the lower Columbia River, in the western valleys, and around coastal estuaries.


title: Oregon

text: During the prehistoric period, the Willamette Valley region was flooded after the collapse of glacial dams from then Lake Missoula, located in what would later become Montana. These massive floods occurred during the last glacial period and filled the valley with of water.


title: Oregon

text: By the 16th century, Oregon was home to many Native American groups, including the Chinook, Coquille (Ko-Kwell), Bannock, Chasta, Kalapuya, Klamath, Klickitat, Molalla, Nez Perce, Takelma, Killamuk, Neah-kah-nie, Umatilla, and Umpqua.


title: Oregon

text: The first Europeans to visit Oregon were Spanish explorers led by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, who sighted southern Oregon off the Pacific coast in 1543. Sailing from Central America on the "Golden Hind" in 1579 in search of the Strait of Anian during his circumnavigation of the Earth, the English explorer and privateer Sir Francis Drake briefly anchored at South Cove, Cape Arago, just south of Coos Bay, before sailing for what is now California. Martín de Aguilar, continuing separately from Sebastián Vizcaíno's scouting of California, reached as far north as Cape Blanco and possibly to Coos Bay in 1603. Exploration continued routinely in 1774, starting with the expedition of the frigate "Santiago" by Juan José Pérez Hernández, and the coast of Oregon became a valuable trade route to Asia. In 1778, British captain James Cook also explored the coast.


title: Oregon

text: French Canadians, Scots, Métis and other continental natives (e.g. Iroquois) trappers arrived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, soon to be followed by Catholic clergy. Some traveled as members of the Lewis and Clark and 1811 Astor expedition. Few stayed permanently such as Étienne Lussier, often referred to as the first "European" farmer in the state of Oregon. Evidence of the French Canadian presence can be found in numerous names of French origin such as Malheur Lake, Malheur River, Grande Ronde, Deschutes rivers and the city of La Grande. Furthermore, many of the early pioneers first came out West with the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company before heading South of the Columbia for better farmland as the fur trade declined. French Prairie by the Willamette River and French Settlement by the Umpqua River are known as early mixed ancestry settlements.


title: Oregon

text: The Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled through northern Oregon also in search of the Northwest Passage. They built their winter fort in 1805–06 at Fort Clatsop, near the mouth of the Columbia River, staying at the encampment from December until March.


title: Oregon

text: British explorer David Thompson also conducted overland exploration. In 1811, while working for the North West Company, Thompson became the first European to navigate the entire Columbia River. Stopping on the way, at the junction of the Snake River, he posted a claim to the region for Great Britain and the North West Company. Upon returning to Montreal, he publicized the abundance of fur-bearing animals in the area.


title: Oregon

text: Also in 1811, New Yorker John Jacob Astor financed the establishment of Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River as a western outpost to his Pacific Fur Company; this was the first permanent European settlement in Oregon.


title: Oregon

text: In the War of 1812, the British gained control of all Pacific Fur Company posts. The Treaty of 1818 established joint British and American occupancy of the region west of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. By the 1820s and 1830s, the Hudson's Bay Company dominated the Pacific Northwest from its Columbia District headquarters at Fort Vancouver (built-in 1825 by the district's chief factor, John McLoughlin, across the Columbia from present-day Portland).


title: Oregon

text: In 1841, the expert trapper and entrepreneur Ewing Young died leaving considerable wealth and no apparent heir, and no system to probate his estate. A meeting followed Young's funeral, at which a probate government was proposed. Doctor Ira Babcock of Jason Lee's Methodist Mission was elected supreme judge. Babcock chaired two meetings in 1842 at Champoeg, (halfway between Lee's mission and Oregon City), to discuss wolves and other animals of contemporary concern. These meetings were precursors to an all-citizen meeting in 1843, which instituted a provisional government headed by an executive committee made up of David Hill, Alanson Beers, and Joseph Gale. This government was the first acting public government of the Oregon Country before annexation by the government of the United States. It was succeeded by a Second Executive Committee, made up of Peter G. Stewart, Osborne Russell, and William J. Bailey, and this committee was itself succeeded by George Abernethy, who was the first and only Governor of Oregon under the provisional government.


title: Oregon

text: Also in 1841, Sir George Simpson, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, reversed the Hudson's Bay Company's long-standing policy of discouraging settlement because it interfered with the lucrative fur trade. He directed that some 200 Red River Colony settlers be relocated to HBC farms near Fort Vancouver, (the James Sinclair expedition), in an attempt to hold Columbia District.


title: Oregon

text: Starting in 1842–43, the Oregon Trail brought many new American settlers to the Oregon Country. Oregon's boundaries were disputed for a time, contributing to tensions between the U.K. and the U.S., but the border was defined peacefully in the 1846 Oregon Treaty. The border between the United States and British North America was set at the 49th parallel. The Oregon Territory was officially organized on August 13, 1848.


title: Oregon

text: Settlement increased with the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 and the forced relocation of the native population to Indian reservations in Oregon.


title: Oregon

text: In December 1844, Oregon passed its Black Exclusion Law, which prohibited African Americans from entering the territory while simultaneously prohibiting slavery. Slave owners who brought their slaves with them were given three years before they were forced to free them. Any African Americans in the region after the law was passed were forced to leave, and those who did not comply were arrested and beaten. They received no less than twenty and no more than thirty-nine stripes across the back if they still did not leave. This process could be repeated every six months. Slavery played a major part in Oregon's history and even influenced its path to statehood. The territory's request for statehood was delayed several times, as members of Congress argued among themselves whether the territory should be admitted as a "free" or "slave" state. Eventually politicians from the South agreed to allow Oregon to enter as a "free" state, in exchange for opening slavery to the southwest United States.


title: Oregon

text: Oregon was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1859, though no one in Oregon knew it until March 15. Founded as a refuge from disputes over slavery, Oregon had a "whites only" clause in its original state Constitution. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, regular U.S. troops were withdrawn and sent east to aid the Union. Volunteer cavalry recruited in California were sent north to Oregon to keep peace and protect the populace. The First Oregon Cavalry served until June 1865.


title: Oregon

text: Beginning in the 1880s, the growth of railroads expanded the state's lumber, wheat, and other agricultural markets, and the rapid growth of its cities. Due to the abundance of timber and waterway access via the Willamette River, Portland became a major force in the lumber industry of the Pacific Northwest, and quickly became the state's largest city. It would earn the nickname "Stumptown", and would later become recognized as one of the most dangerous port cities in the United States due to racketeering and illegal activities at the turn of the 20th century. In 1902, Oregon introduced direct legislation by the state's citizens through initiatives and referendums, known as the Oregon System.


title: Oregon

text: On May 5, 1945, six civilians were killed by a Japanese balloon bomb that exploded on Gearhart Mountain near Bly. They remained the only people on American soil whose deaths were attributed to an enemy balloon bomb explosion during World War II. The bombing site is now located in the Mitchell Recreation Area.


title: Oregon

text: Industrial expansion began in earnest following the 1933–37 construction of the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. Hydroelectric power, food, and lumber provided by Oregon helped fuel the development of the West, although the periodic fluctuations in the U.S. building industry have hurt the state's economy on multiple occasions. Portland, in particular, experienced a population boom between 1900 and 1930, tripling in size; the arrival of World War II also provided the northwest region of the state with an industrial boom, where Liberty ships and aircraft carriers were constructed.


title: Oregon

text: During the 1970s, the Pacific Northwest was particularly affected by the 1973 oil crisis, with Oregon suffering a substantial shortage.


title: Oregon

text: In 1972, The Oregon Beverage Container Act of 1971, popularly called the Bottle Bill, became the first law of its kind in the United States. The Bottle Bill system in Oregon was created to control litter. In practice, the system promotes recycling, not reusing, and the collected containers are generally destroyed and made into new containers. Ten states currently have similar laws.


title: Oregon

text: In 1994, Oregon became the first U.S. state to legalize physician-assisted suicide through the Oregon Death with Dignity Act. A measure to legalize recreational use of marijuana in Oregon was approved on November 4, 2014, making Oregon only the second state at the time to have legalized gay marriage, physician-assisted suicide, and recreational marijuana.


title: Oregon

text: Oregon is north to south at longest distance, and east to west. With an area of , Oregon is slightly larger than the United Kingdom. It is the ninth largest state in the United States. Oregon's highest point is the summit of Mount Hood, at , and its lowest point is the sea level of the Pacific Ocean along the Oregon Coast. Oregon's mean elevation is . Crater Lake National Park, the state's only national park, is the site of the deepest lake in the United States at . Oregon claims the D River as the shortest river in the world, though the state of Montana makes the same claim of its Roe River. Oregon is also home to Mill Ends Park (in Portland), the smallest park in the world at .


title: Oregon

text: Oregon is split into eight geographical regions. In Western Oregon: Oregon Coast (west of the Coast Range), the Willamette Valley, Rogue Valley, Cascade Range and Klamath Mountains; and in Central and Eastern Oregon: the Columbia Plateau, the High Desert, and the Blue Mountains.


title: Oregon

text: Oregon lies in two time zones. Most of Malheur County is in the Mountain Time Zone, while the rest of the state lies in the Pacific Time Zone.


title: Oregon

text: Western Oregon's mountainous regions, home to three of the most prominent mountain peaks of the United States including Mount Hood, were formed by the volcanic activity of the Juan de Fuca Plate, a tectonic plate that poses a continued threat of volcanic activity and earthquakes in the region. The most recent major activity was the 1700 Cascadia earthquake. Washington's Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, an event visible from northern Oregon and affecting some areas there.


title: Oregon

text: The Columbia River, which forms much of Oregon's northern border, also played a major role in the region's geological evolution, as well as its economic and cultural development. The Columbia is one of North America's largest rivers, and one of two rivers to cut through the Cascades (the Klamath River in southern Oregon is the other). About 15,000 years ago, the Columbia repeatedly flooded much of Oregon during the Missoula Floods; the modern fertility of the Willamette Valley is largely the result. Plentiful salmon made parts of the river, such as Celilo Falls, hubs of economic activity for thousands of years.


title: Oregon

text: Today, Oregon's landscape varies from rain forest in the Coast Range to barren desert in the southeast, which still meets the technical definition of a frontier. Oregon's geographical center is further west than any of the other 48 contiguous states (although the westernmost point of the lower 48 states is in Washington). Central Oregon's geographical features range from high desert and volcanic rock formations resulting from lava beds. The Oregon Badlands Wilderness is in this region of the state.


title: Oregon

text: Typical of a western state, Oregon is home to a unique and diverse array of wildlife. Roughly 60 percent of the state is covered in forest, while the areas west of the Cascades are more densely populated by forest, making up around 80 percent of the landscape. Some 60 percent of Oregon's forests are within federal land. Oregon is the top timber producer of the lower 48 states.


title: Oregon

text: Moose have not always inhabited the state but came to Oregon in the 1960s; the Wallowa Valley herd numbered about 60 . Gray wolves were extirpated from Oregon around 1930 but have since found their way back; most reside in northeast Oregon, with two packs living in the south-central part. Although their existence in Oregon is unconfirmed, reports of grizzly bears still turn up, and it is probable some still move into eastern Oregon from Idaho.


title: Oregon

text: Oregon is home to what is considered the largest single organism in the world, an "Armillaria solidipes" fungus beneath the Malheur National Forest of eastern Oregon.


title: Oregon

text: Oregon has several National Park System sites, including Crater Lake National Park in the southern part of the Cascades, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument east of the Cascades, Lewis and Clark National Historical Park on the north coast, and Oregon Caves National Monument near the south coast.


title: Oregon

text: Most of Oregon has a generally mild climate, though there is significant variation given the variety of landscapes across the state. The state's western region (west of the Cascade Range) has an oceanic climate, populated by dense evergreen mixed forests. Western Oregon's climate is heavily influenced by the Pacific Ocean; the western third of Oregon is very wet in the winter, moderately to very wet during the spring and fall, and dry during the summer. The relative humidity of Western Oregon is high except during summer days, which are semi-dry to semi-humid; Eastern Oregon typically sees low humidity year-round.


title: Oregon

text: The state's southwestern portion, particularly the Rogue Valley, has a Mediterranean climate with drier and sunnier winters and hotter summers, similar to Northern California.


title: Oregon

text: Oregon's northeastern portion has a steppe climate, and its high terrain regions have a subarctic climate. Like Western Europe, Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest in general, is considered warm for its latitude, and the state has far milder winters at a given elevation than comparable latitudes elsewhere in North America, such as the Upper Midwest, Ontario, Quebec and New England. However, the state ranks fifth for coolest summer temperatures of any state in the country, after Maine, Idaho, Wyoming, and Alaska.


title: Oregon

text: The eastern two thirds of Oregon, which largely comprise high desert, have cold, snowy winters and very dry summers. Much of the east is semiarid to arid like the rest of the Great Basin, though the Blue Mountains are wet enough to support extensive forests. Most of Oregon receives significant snowfall, but the Willamette Valley, where 60 percent of the population lives, has considerably milder winters for its latitude and typically sees only light snowfall.


title: Oregon

text: Oregon's highest recorded temperature is at Pendleton on August 10, 1898, and the lowest recorded temperature is at Seneca on February 10, 1933.


title: Oregon

text: Oregon's population is largely concentrated in the Willamette Valley, which stretches from Eugene in the south (home of the University of Oregon) through Corvallis (home of Oregon State University) and Salem (the capital) to Portland (Oregon's largest city).


title: Oregon

text: Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River, was the first permanent English-speaking settlement west of the Rockies in what is now the United States. Oregon City, at the end of the Oregon Trail, was the Oregon Territory's first incorporated city, and was its first capital from 1848 until 1852, when the capital was moved to Salem. Bend, near the geographic center of the state, is one of the ten fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States. In southern Oregon, Medford is a rapidly growing metro area and is home to the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, the state's third-busiest airport. To the south, near the California border, is the city of Ashland. Eastern Oregon is sparsely populated, but is home to Hermiston, which with a population of 18,000 is the largest and fastest-growing city in the region.


title: Oregon

text: The 2020 U.S. census determined that the population of Oregon was 4,237,256 in 2020, a 10.71% increase over the 2010 census.


title: Oregon

text: Oregon was the nation's "Top Moving Destination" in 2014, with two families moving into the state for every one moving out (66.4% to 33.6%). Oregon was also the top moving destination in 2013, and the second-most popular destination in 2010 through 2012.


title: Oregon

text: As of the 2010 census, the population of Oregon was 3,831,074. The gender makeup of the state was 49.5% male and 50.5% female. 22.6% of the population were under the age of 18; 63.5% were between the ages of 18 and 64; and 12.5% were 65 years of age or older.


title: Oregon

text: According to the 2020 census, 13.9% of Oregon's population was of Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race) and 71.7% Non-Hispanic White, 2.0% African American, 1.5% Native American, 4.6% Asian, 1.5% Pacific Islander, 10.5% one or more races.


title: Oregon

text: According to the 2016 American Community Survey, 12.4% of Oregon's population were of Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race): Mexican (10.4%), Puerto Rican (0.3%), Cuban (0.1%), and other Hispanic or Latino origin (1.5%). The five largest ancestry groups for White Oregonians were: German (19.1%), Irish (11.7%), English (11.3%), American (5.3%), and Norwegian (3.8%).


title: Oregon

text: The state's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic White, has declined from 95.8% in 1970 to 77.8% in 2012. This decreased further to 71.7% in the 2020 census.


title: Oregon

text: , 38.7% of Oregon's children under one year of age belonged to minority groups, meaning they had at least one parent who was not a non-Hispanic White. Of the state's total population, 22.6% was under the age 18, and 77.4% were 18 or older.


title: Oregon

text: The center of population of Oregon is located in Linn County, in the city of Lyons. Around 60% of Oregon's population resides within the Portland metropolitan area.


title: Oregon

text: , Oregon's population comprised 361,393 foreign-born residents. Of the foreign-born residents, the three largest groups are originally from countries in: Latin America (47.8%), Asia (27.4%), and Europe (16.5%).


title: Oregon

text: The Roma first reached Oregon in the 1890s. There is a substantial Roma population in Willamette Valley and around Portland.


title: Oregon

text: Oregon has frequently been cited by statistical agencies for having a smaller percentage of religious communities than other U.S. states. According to a 2009 Gallup poll, Oregon was paired with Vermont as the two "least religious" states in the United States.