Srdjan
Favorite Answer
Hi, this is what I saw at Wikipedia:
Blockbuster, as applied to film or theater, is a very popular and/or momentarily successful production. The term was originally derived from theater slang referring to a particularly successful play; in film industry parlance it has come to refer to a film that earns an amount of revenue exceeding some threshold. In a looser sense, it may mean any big-budget Hollywood movie with famous stars that dominates public attention, even if the movie is a financial dud.
The etymology of the term is uncertain; some histories cite it as originally referring to a play that is so successful that competing theaters on the block are "busted" and driven out of business; others claim a derivation from the nickname of a type of World War II-era bomb capable of destroying an entire city block. Still others note that the term may stem from crowds of people that might flock to queue up for a hit play, perhaps stretching over several city blocks. Whatever its origin, the term quickly caught on as a way to describe a hit, and has subsequently been applied to productions other than plays and films, including novels and multimillion selling computer/console game titles. The Blockbuster Video company derived its name from the term.
The threshold for a blockbuster film in North America has often been placed at $100,000,000 in ticket sales, a mark first achieved by Steven Spielberg's Jaws. However, because of steady increases in ticket prices since the release of Jaws in 1975, the threshold for a blockbuster in the early 21st century is now generally set at $200 million;
There are some more details at Wikipedia, just follow the link.
P.S. The movie doesn't have to be good to be a blockbuster, and some great movies went very bad at box office.
It's always nice to help!
clomtancy
just a wild guess
Back in Vietnam and in the Cold war there was a weapon called a blockbuster bomb.
It was said to make a huge dent (hole) in whatever it hit.
well blockbusters is a name for something that is a big hit.
Haven17
In WW 2 they had 500 lb bombs called "Block Busters" named that because if they hit in the center of a block the entire thing would be demolished. The movie critics started using that term to describe movies that knocked all of the other competion out.
wilfredo b
it cost the same to make it than to rent it at blockbuster, A LOT
?
Makes more money that it cost ... way more money.