AS Film Studies, Hollywood Cinema

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The Rise of the
Blockbuster
Lesson Objectives: To be able to
explain the rise of the Hollywood
blockbuster.

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PICTURE
START

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Assessment Criteria

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The Rise of the Blockbuster
The rise of the blockbuster in the 1970s led to
what film historian Thomas Schatz calls the ‘New
Hollywood’ changing the ways in which films were
produced, distributed and marketed and ensuring
the long term survival of the Hollywood studios.

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What is a blockbuster?

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What is a blockbuster?
A big budget
movie
expected to
be a huge
commercial
success.

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Post-war Era
• 1946 – peak for Hollywood cinema during Studio Era
(1920- early 1940s).
• Record revenues of over $1.5 billion, weekly ticket sales
of 100 million.
• 1948 Paramount decree – US Supreme Court forces
Studios to sell off ownership of cinema chains which had
enabled them to dominate the market.
• 1950s television replaces cinema as most popular form
of mass-media narrative entertainment.
• Hollywood goes into decline in 1950s and 1960s.
• 1969 Hollywood in recession – ‘Hollywood nearly
collapsed’ (Tino Balio).

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1970s
• The 1970s saw a revival in American cinema,
spearheaded by a new wave of American
filmmakers known as the Movie Brats.
• Film school graduates who were the first
generation of filmmakers to grow up with
cinema. Influenced by European filmmakers.
• Bonnie and Clyde (1967) first in a new wave of
challenging American films that broke taboos.

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Movie Brats
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLpMx8_TYOo

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Bratz the Movie

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The Blockbuster
• Key to Hollywood’s survival has been the
rise of the blockbuster movie.
• Hollywood has been increasingly driven by
blockbusters since the 1950s.
• During the studio era studios relied
primarily on routine A-class features to
generate revenue, with a few “prestige”
pictures.

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The Godfather (1972)
• First sign of Hollywood revival.
• Directed by ‘movie brat’ Francis Ford
Coppola.
• Pre-sold – based on bestselling novel.
• Following the success of The Godfather a
number of pre-sold films based on novels
produced including Jaws.
• Employs established genre (crime).
https://www.youtube.c

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Jaws (1975)
• Jaws was released in the summer of
1975. Its success is seen as establishing
the format for the modern day blockbuster.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1fu_sA7X
• Jaws is a SHARK.
• This is a shark……………..

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Jaws (1975)
• Jaws marked the arrival
of New Hollywood.
Ushered in era of high cost, high-tech, high-
speed thrillers.
Jaws – pre-sold via a best-selling novel.
Budget above average, but not big-ticket
production.

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Jaws (1975)
• Released Summer 1975 – up till then most expected hits
were released at Christmas.
• Major marketing campaign prior to release – saturation
marketing. $2.5 million marketing budget – first film to
make extensive use of television advertising (TV spots
seen by over 200 million people in the US).
Frontloading the audience.
• Earned over $100 million in 1975.
• Commercial tie-ins and merchandise.
• Wide release in contrast to established platform release
strategy.

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The Implications of Jaws
• Schatz describes Jaws as a ‘social, industrial, and
economic phenomenon’, which consolidated trends in
the film industry and established the template for the
modern summer blockbuster.
• It emphasised the importance of wide releases and
saturation marketing, placing increased importance on
the performance of a film in the first weeks of its release,
a technique known as frontloading the audience.

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• Increase in sequels, reissues, franchises,
remakes.
• 1964-1968 less than 5% of Hollywood
films.
• 1974-1978 17.5%.
• 2011 – 9 of the top 10 films at global box
office were sequels.
• Birth of the ‘megafranchise’ (Dalecki)

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Sequels
7 of the US top 10 films
in 2015 were franchise
films.

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Star Wars (1977)
• Made $127 million in 1977.
• Part of a trend of American films that are
increasingly plot-driven, visceral, kinetic, fast-
paced, increasingly reliant on special effects,
and targeted at a younger audience.
• Merchandise, commercial tie-ins, franchise.
• Star Wars franchise the first blockbuster
franchise.