Summary
The concept of a summer blockbuster wasn’t always as popular as it is today, and it actually took several influential movies to redefine the way that audiences looked at big-budget summer releases. In the earlier days of the industry, summer was actually a pretty quiet time for movies, as most people wanted to spend their free time with family and friends. It wasn’t until certain filmmakers revolutionized the way movies are viewed that “event cinema” became a thing, with audiences going to theaters with their families and friends to catch the next big release.
Over time, the very concept of what a summer blockbuster looked like changed dramatically, with plenty of filmmakers proving that certain genres and styles previously deemed too niche or unpopular for big-budget movies were actually full of potential. Like any kind of art form, cinema has gone through countless phases, many of which were introduced and faded away. The summer blockbuster is no different. The basic principles of what audiences want to see have remained the same, but they look very different today in comparison with 50 years ago.
Jaws
Steve Spielberg’s Jaws is often cited as the first-ever summer blockbuster because it was the first big-budget movie released during the summer months. It attracted all kinds of audiences to the theater. The disaster movie was an enormous success, taking the world by storm and proving that people will visit theaters in the summer if they’re provided with enough spectacle and entertainment. Jaws paved the way for every other blockbuster that followed, demonstrating that some stories aren’t bound by genre or audience. It also became one of the few horror movies nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
Star Wars
1977’s Star Wars was the next project that reinvented the summer blockbuster, delivering an epic sci-fi story that was previously considered too niche and complex for mainstream cinema. With A New Hope, George Lucas managed to make a movie that was both accessible to everybody and bound to its sci-fi roots. This proved how versatile the science-fiction genre actually was, leading in a new wave of popularity in the late ‘70s and ‘80s. The movie obviously became a huge staple of American pop culture and spawned several sequels and spinoffs.
Alien
Ridley Scott’s Alien capitalized on the trend started with Star Wars and twisted it for a more mature audience, leaning into the violence and horror that made Jaws so successful. It was one of the first R-rated sci-fi movies to find success at the box office, which proved that there was a space for almost anything to be made into a summer blockbuster. Scott’s brilliant direction and tense storytelling were a perfect combination that kept audiences coming back for more.
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
It wasn’t long before Spielberg was back in the game and switching things up again with Raiders of the Lost Ark, a hugely influential movie that carefully walked the line between being mature and family-friendly. This smart marketing move made Raiders accessible to all audiences, driving it to a great commercial performance. The movie also triggered a resurgence of swashbuckling adventure movies, which would later help projects such as Pirates of the Caribbean become successful.
Batman
Batman has changed a lot since Burton’s 1989 movie, but it was thanks to this project that the Caped Crusader rose to a new level of fame and ushered in a new era of superhero movies at the box office. It released a few decades before superhero blockbusters really took control and peaked in popularity, but Burton’s Batman was a huge success that managed to make superheroes cool again. Comic books went through a period of unpopularity in the ‘70s and ‘80s in comparison to their golden years, but Batman changed things irrevocably.
Jurassic Park
Almost 20 years after creating the summer blockbuster with Jaws, Spielberg changed things up drastically with Jurassic Park. His timeless adventure was an absolute triumph when it was first released in 1993. It used some of the most advanced technology and creative practical effects that had ever been put to screen. The movie’s huge budget set a precedent for all blockbusters that followed, leading to a new age of cinema that was focused on spectacle and sensationalism. After Jurassic Park, many movies had the confidence to get bigger and bolder with the scale of their stories.
The Lion King
Disney movies were popular ever since the late ‘30s, when Snow White and the Seven Dwarves proved just how much was actually possible in the world of animation. However, it wasn’t until The Lion King that Disney truly earned its place among the most popular movie studios ever. The film was an enormous success, proving that summer blockbusters didn’t have to be live-action and that technology had advanced massively since earlier projects. The Lion King’s success led to a renaissance of popularity for Disney, with projects such as Pocahontas and The Jungle Book following soon after.
Independence Day
Roland Emmerich has made plenty of great movies over the course of his career, but Independence Day will always be the director’s biggest achievement. A big-budget action flick that brought popularity back to the genre after a long period of absence, Independence Day started a new era of action-focused filmmaking that made the most of cinema’s technological capabilities. It was because of Independence Day that other action franchises such as Transformers and Pacific Rim became so popular. The movie came at the perfect time, when audiences were craving something they could just switch off to.
Top Gun: Maverick
Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, blockbuster cinema was dominated primarily by action flicks and superhero movies. But when the COVID pandemic saw theaters around the world shutting down, it was Tom Cruise’s record-breaking Top Gun: Maverick that pulled audiences back and “saved” movies. The film couldn’t have come at a better time, with its heart and originality shining bright against an endless flood of existing properties and long-running franchises. Ultimately, Top Gun: Maverick reminded audiences why they loved going to the movies.
Barbie & Oppenheimer
The Barbenheimer phenomenon has been one of the most exciting things to happen to cinema in 2023, with the tied release of these projects helping both of them rise in popularity. Barbie and Oppenheimer brought audiences together for an unlikely double feature. It’s been a long since two movies (non-franchise ones, too) were released at the same time and caused this kind of cultural impact. It’s reminiscent of the early years of the summer blockbuster, and it could be indicative of a trend to come. In a world where people are becoming less and less likely to visit theaters, Barbenheimer has been hugely beneficial to the industry.
