Hollywood Studios Roll Out Big Budget Flicks
Every summer, big Hollywood studios roll out big budget flicks, rich in special effects and celebrity actors. These blockbusters attract large audiences to multiplex and luxury movie theaters. Revenues from domestic and international ticket sales of these movie behemoths reach the billions of dollars.
The trend for summer superflicks started forty years ago with Jaws.
Filmmaker Steven Spielberg scared summer vacationers with this suspenseful shark attack story featuring a terrifying great white, a killing machine. Jaws raked in half a billion dollars worldwide, making it the highest grossing film of its time.
In San Andreas, a massive earthquake threatens to devour California and action superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays a rescue pilot battling against time to save his daughter, while in the process saving everyone else lucky enough to be in his path. The exceptional 3D visuals make up for what is, to say the least, a mediocre script. In its opening weekend, San Andreas grossed over $50 million, while Marvel’s latest superhero flick, The Avengers:Age of Ultron, a $250 million production, has so far brought in over a billion dollars worldwide. Disaster films are Hollywood’s major export as they cross cultural barriers and can excite any audience, while top stars such as The Avengers’ Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth are bankable the world over.
In Terminator Genysis, the fifth installment of the Terminator franchise, Arnold Schwarzenegger, soon to be 70, plays the iconic terminator-turned-savior-of-humanity, and proves he can still carry his weight and bring the masses to the theaters.
