Film Marketing and the Creation of the Hollywood Blockbuster

摘要

The purpose of this study is to trace the Hollywood blockbuster from its roots, gain insight into how Steven Spielberg’s Jaws and George Lucas’ Star Wars ushered in the “Blockbuster Era”, and explore how the blockbuster has evolved throughout the subsequent decades into its current state. This case study uncovers the intertwining relationship between revolutionary film marketing tactics and the creation of the blockbuster as a genre and strategy and observes how increased costs of film marketing and the rise of ancillary markets and new media have led to a contemporary slate of blockbusters alternatingly different and similar from those in earlier decades. The study also suggests that the blockbuster and the film industry as a whole may be on the verge of a new film revolution.