Blockbuster (entertainment)

Blockbuster, as applied to film, theatre, and sometimes also video games, denotes a very popular or successful, usually big budget production.

Origin of the term

In film, a number of terms were used to describe a hit. In the 1970s these included: "spectacular" (The Wall Street Journal), "super-grosser" (New York Times), and "super-blockbuster" (Variety). In 1975 the usage of "blockbuster" for films coalesced around Steven Spielberg's Jaws and became perceived as something new: a cultural phenomenon, a fast-paced exciting entertainment, almost a genre. Audiences interacted with such films, talked about them afterwards, and went back to see them again just for the thrill.

Blockbuster films

Before Jaws set box office records in the summer of 1975, successful films, such as Quo Vadis, The Ten Commandments, Gone With the Wind, and Ben-Hur, were called blockbusters based purely on the amount of money earned at the box office. Jaws is regarded as the first film of New Hollywood's "blockbuster era" with its current meaning, implying a film genre. It also consolidated the "summer blockbuster" trend, through which major film studios and distributors planned their entire annual marketing strategy around a big release by July 4.

Blockbuster LLC

Blockbuster LLC, also known as Blockbuster and formerly Blockbuster Video Entertainment, Inc., is an American-based provider of home movie and video game rental services through video rental shops, DVD-by-mail, streaming, video on demand, and cinema theater. At its peak in 2004, Blockbuster consisted of nearly 60,000 employees and over 9,000 stores.

As a result of competition from Netflix and Redbox, Blockbuster lost significant revenue and filed for bankruptcy protection on September 23, 2010. On April 6, 2011, the company and its remaining 1,700 stores were bought by satellite television provider Dish Network at auction for $233 million and the assumption of $87 million in liabilities and other obligations. The acquisition was completed on April 26, 2011. Dish closed 200 branches in July 2011, 500 more in the first half of 2012, and another 300 in 2013.

As of 2015, Blockbuster still maintains 51 stores across the United States. While the Blockbuster brand has mostly been retired, Dish will continue to license the brand name to franchise locations. Until 2015, Dish kept its "Blockbuster on Demand" video streaming service open along with a "Blockbuster@Home" television package for Dish subscribers. In 2015, "Blockbuster@Home" was renamed "Dish Movie Pack." In November 2015, Blockbuster On Demand was shut down and all customers were redirected to Sling TV.