The term blockbuster used to describe a movie with a production budget of at least $100 million. A typical studio movie has a production budget of between $30 to $60 million. The term “blockbuster” has frightening military origins, but is now used to mean a movie that has blown the box office away with its largesse.
Blockbusters are large in scope, scale (thematically and visually). Most importantly they must be entertaining. Typically the fall in the high concept action genre.
Some juggernauts such as “John Carter” and “The Amazing Spiderman” had budgets of over $200 million dollars. These are production budgets with typical breakdowns of 15-20% for A-list talent, director and producer. These are called above the line costs.
The remaining 75-80% of the budget refers to the physical production and post production costs, aka below the line costs.
The P&A (prints and advertising) budgets vary for studio films, but typically lie within the 30-50% of the production budget range. A blockbuster film first starts its advertising up to a year in advance with promos such as “coming next summer”.
The main buzz begins around 2 -3 weeks before a film opens. This includes billboards, TV slots, viral marketing campaigns, premieres and product tie ins.
What makes a successful blockbuster film? Is it huge thrills, spills and visual effects? They help, but ultimately its audience engagement. How emotionally attached are they to the film? Is there a clear story spine and theme that speaks to global audiences?
In the past decade the primary driver of box office receipts was the 14-24 male demographic. Today this demographic is becoming increasingly splintered as boys spend more time on the internet and mobile entertainment. Hopefully this will signal a move to movies catering to older audiences.
