The History of the Summer Blockbuster

A blockbuster is defined, basically, as a movie with a high budget that is heavily marketed by a major studio whose main purpose is to make money. They are usually fast-paced and action-heavy, oftentimes transforming into cultural phenomena. The term "blockbuster" originates from World War II, describing aerial bombs capable of destroying an entire city block. These movies seek the same kind of impact.

All my life, every summer, American blockbusters dominated the box office. A few recent examples are Spiderman 2 (June, 2004), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June, 2009) Toy Story 3 (June, 2010), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (June, 2011), and Despicable Me 2 (July, 2013). Nevertheless, this staunchly established trend did not always exist. In fact, studios once saw summers as dead air. Sure, movies were always an escape from the ceaseless sun, but studios usually held off on their biggest projects (blockbusters) during the summer.

There is one film most responsible for this massive shift in the industry: Steven Spielberg's Jaws. Inspecting the film's release, one can see how similar it is to the summer blockbusters of today. The film grossed over $7 million over the first weekend, Universal Studios spent nearly $2 million promoting the film, and its tone was action-heavy and suspenseful, with some comic relief.

Studio executives took notice of this surprisingly massive success, and began to model their releases after it. Two years later, in late May, the ultimate blockbuster franchise was launched by 20th Century Fox: Star Wars. Its release resembled Jaws's and its success was even greater, ultimately grossing almost $800 million. It is the formulaic success of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg—who also directed summer hits Raiders of the Lost Ark (launching the Indiana Jones franchise)—that set the precedent for the kind of movies you're likely to see this summer.