Why do they call a good movie a "Blockbuster"?

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!

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.

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.

it cost the same to make it than to rent it at blockbuster, A LOT

Makes more money that it cost ... way more money.