History MediaNotes / TheBlockbusterAgeOfHollywood

However, unlike 1939, 1982 most certainly did ''not'' come at a high point for the studios financially. Hollywood spent much of TheEighties reeling from the fallout of the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era, and the combined share of the six surviving major studios from the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood Golden Age]] had fallen to just 64% by 1986 -- the lowest it had been since the days of silent film. Two young studios -- Orion and Tri-Star -- maintained about 6% market share each, Disney had about 10%, and smaller independents (the largest being New Line, "the house that [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy]] built") would together make up 13% (more than any one studio besides Paramount).

It would be in TheNineties -- after a new round of corporate acquisitions (Paramount was acquired by then-Creator/{{CBS}} subsidiary Creator/{{Viacom}}, Columbia was purchased by Sony, Warners merged with Time Inc. and Turner Broadcasting System to form Time Warner, Fox became part of UsefulNotes/RupertMurdoch's News Corp and Universal was tossed around like a cursed diamond throughout the 1990s and 2000s before finding a forever home with cable giant Comcast in 2011) -- and the TurnOfTheMillennium that the rebirth of the major studios would finally come. Orion would go bankrupt in 1992, Tri-Star would merge with Columbia (incidentally a partner in the joint venture that created it) in 1998, and New Line would merge with Warner Bros. in 2008 (after [[IdiotBall getting into a dick-swinging contest with Peter Jackson]]). By 2006, the six major movie conglomerates' share of the box office (counting Disney) had climbed back to 89.8% of the North American market. The two largest independent studios, Creator/LionsGate and Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany, would share 6.1%, MGM would have 1.8%, and the remaining indie studios shared the remaining 2.3%.

It would be in TheNineties -- after a new round of corporate acquisitions (Paramount was acquired by then-Creator/{{CBS}} subsidiary Creator/{{Viacom}}, Columbia was purchased by Sony, Warners merged with Time Inc. to form Time Warner, Fox became part of UsefulNotes/RupertMurdoch's News Corp and Universal was tossed around like a cursed diamond throughout the 1990s and 2000s) -- and the TurnOfTheMillennium that the rebirth of the major studios would finally come. Orion would go bankrupt in 1992, Tri-Star would merge with Columbia (incidentally a partner in the joint venture that created it) in 1998, and New Line would merge with Warner Bros. in 2008 (after [[IdiotBall getting into a dick-swinging contest with Peter Jackson]]). By 2006, the six major movie conglomerates' share of the box office (counting Disney) had climbed back to 89.8% of the North American market. The two largest independent studios, Creator/LionsGate and Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany, would share 6.1%, MGM would have 1.8%, and the remaining indie studios shared the remaining 2.3%.

It would be in TheNineties -- after a new round of corporate acquisitions (Paramount, Columbia, Warners and Universal all changed hands) -- and the TurnOfTheMillennium that the rebirth of the major studios would finally come. Orion would go bankrupt in 1992, Tri-Star would merge with Columbia (incidentally a partner in the joint venture that created it) in 1998, and New Line would merge with Warner Bros. in 2008 (after [[IdiotBall getting into a dick-swinging contest with Peter Jackson]]). By 2006, the six major movie conglomerates' share of the box office (counting Disney) had climbed back to 89.8% of the North American market. The two largest independent studios, Creator/LionsGate and Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany, would share 6.1%, MGM would have 1.8%, and the remaining indie studios shared the remaining 2.3%.

The Blockbuster Age of Hollywood is the age that we are currently living in. It marks the end of the creative freedom and excesses of the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era and the rise of a new studio system, built upon the ashes of the old. This time, there are only six major studios: Creator/{{Sony}} (releasing films under the Creator/ColumbiaPictures), Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, [[Creator/{{Universal}} Universal Studios]], Creator/WarnerBros, [[Creator/{{Paramount}} Paramount Pictures]] and [[Creator/{{Disney}} Walt Disney Pictures]] (releasing mature films under the Creator/TouchstonePictures label; [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel Studios]] and [[Creator/GeorgeLucas Lucasfilm]] have been acquired by Disney but are separate from Walt Disney Pictures). Creator/{{MGM}} still exists, but as a shadow of its former self owned by its creditors, and a major studio [[GrandfatherClause only by virtue of]] [[GloryDays its history]].

The Blockbuster Age of Hollywood is the age that we are currently living in. It marks the end of the creative freedom and excesses of the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era and the rise of a new studio system, built upon the ashes of the old. This time, there are only six major studios: Creator/{{Sony}} (releasing films under the Creator/ColumbiaPictures), Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, [[Creator/{{Universal}} Universal Studios]], Creator/WarnerBros, [[Creator/{{Paramount}} Paramount Pictures]] and [[Creator/{{Disney}} Walt Disney Pictures]] (releasing mature films under the Creator/TouchstonePictures label, with [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel Studios]] and [[Creator/GeorgeLucas Lucasfilm]] representing non-WDP Disney-owned studios). Creator/{{MGM}} still exists, but as a shadow of its former self owned by its creditors, and a major studio [[GrandfatherClause only by virtue of]] [[GloryDays its history]].

The Blockbuster Age of Hollywood is the age that we are currently living in. It marks the end of the creative freedom and excesses of the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era and the rise of a new studio system, built upon the ashes of the old. This time, there are only six major studios: Creator/{{Sony}} (releasing films under the Creator/ColumbiaPictures and Creator/ScreenGems imprints), Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, [[Creator/{{Universal}} Universal Studios]], Creator/WarnerBros, [[Creator/{{Paramount}} Paramount Pictures]] and [[Creator/{{Disney}} Walt Disney Pictures]] (releasing mature films under the Creator/TouchstonePictures label). Creator/{{MGM}} still exists, but as a shadow of its former self owned by its creditors, and a major studio [[GrandfatherClause only by virtue of]] [[GloryDays its history]].

The Blockbuster Age of Hollywood is the age that we are currently living in. It marks the end of the creative freedom and excesses of the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era and the rise of a new studio system, built upon the ashes of the old. This time, there are only six major studios: Creator/{{Sony}} (releasing films under the Creator/ColumbiaPictures imprint), Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, [[Creator/{{Universal}} Universal Studios]], Creator/WarnerBros, [[Creator/{{Paramount}} Paramount Pictures]] and [[Creator/{{Disney}} Walt Disney Pictures]] (releasing mature films under the Creator/TouchstonePictures label). Creator/{{MGM}} still exists, but as a shadow of its former self owned by its creditors, and a major studio [[GrandfatherClause only by virtue of]] [[GloryDays its history]].

* Creator/TheWachowskis

Indie films published through studio psuedo-indie subsidiaries ([[TwentiethCenturyFox Fox Searchlight]], [[Creator/{{Sony}} Sony Pictures Classics]] and [[{{Universal}} Focus Features]]) are now key weapons in Hollywood's [[OscarBait award-season arsenal]], with recent films like ''LittleMissSunshine'', ''{{Juno}}'', ''Film/FiveHundredDaysOfSummer'', ''TheHurtLocker'', and way too many more to list (although [[WikiMagic feel free to do so]]) winning critical acclaim and, sometimes, commercial success. In addition, many independent studios, such as Creator/LionsGate, the Weinstein Company, [=FilmDistrict=] and Magnolia (as well as the now-defunct [=PolyGram=], Miramax, New Line and Summit), have gained footholds in the mainstream market by both distributing independent and foreign films and, increasingly, making films in-house (Lionsgate's ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise, Summit's ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' adaptations), often raking in enough money to blur the line between "indie" and "major".

The internet offers several new revenue streams for the studios, most notably streaming movies from home. With Netflix leading the way in this area, the studios can look ahead to a future where they can charge customers every time they want to watch movies at home -- something that was attempted in TheNineties with the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIVX_(Digital_Video_Express) DIVX]] disc system, but which didn't take (chiefly because DIVX was a physical format). Many of the major film companies are now planning to try out a "premium download" distribution model to offer downloads of their theatrical feature films only one or two months after their theatrical release for around $30 each, which means that, for a bit of patience, whole families could be able to forgo going to the cinema altogether. Of course, this has run into heavy resistance from theaters -- Universal was forced to cancel plans for a limited VOD release of ''Tower Heist'' after the Cinemark and National Amusements theater companies responded by threatening to refuse to show the film. Keep in mind that this VOD release was to happen in just two cities ({{Atlanta}} and UsefulNotes/{{Portland}}), and at a price of $60 per viewing. However, while many have feared this might be the end of the blockbusters, theatrical runs have not been replaced just yet.

The name "Blockbuster Age" also has another origin: Blockbuster Video. It is very difficult to overstate how great an impact the invention of [[UsefulNotes/{{VCR}} the videocassette]] had on the film industry. It started a golden age for independent cinema, the full impact of which is described below. (It also started a golden age for the porn industry, but that's for [[TheRuleOfFirstAdopters a completely different article]].) It also effectively killed second-run theaters, grindhouses, and porn theaters, as people could now watch movies in the comfort of their living rooms instead of having to go to sleazy, run-down theaters in ''that'' part of town -- and in the case of porn theaters, not worry about getting caught at an establishment that was only one step above a brothel or a bathhouse. In addition, home video offered the studios additional revenue streams for their films after they'd left theaters, allowing them to continue making money off of older films -- some of which could see [[VindicatedByCable a second chance]] [[CultClassic at success]] when they came out on video. Last but certainly not least, the videocassette seriously spooked Hollywood's traditional arch-enemy, the television industry, which feared people recording shows just to fast-forward through all those lucrative commercials.

When UsefulNotes/LaserDisc and, more importantly, UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} came around in TheNineties, the studios were able to make even more money by putting out a [[LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition Limited Special Collectors Ultimate]] UnratedEdition for each of their big films, packed with [[DVDCommentary commentaries]], deleted scenes, "making of" featurettes, {{feelies}}, and other [[DVDBonusContent bonus features]]. The high-end [[TheCriterionCollection Criterion Collection]] series emerged as taking the greatest care in preservation and supplementation of classic films.

Another factor in the return of Hollywood to profitability was the rise of the multiplex theater, something that began during the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era [[note]]although, depending on your definition, the first multiplex opened as early as the 1930s[[/note]] but truly took off in the [[UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Reagan]] years and after. The multiplex follows a fairly simple logic: if you have more screens, then you can run more showings of more movies, and can therefore make [[MoneyDearBoy more money]]! Six-screen theaters were opening by the end of TheSeventies, and by TheNineties, they had gone UpToEleven with 20-screen "megaplex" theaters and beyond. It is no coincidence that the rise of the multiplex occurred at the same time as the boom of malls and big-box stores; most multiplexes were part of such complexes, and like their retail cousins, were a driving force behind [[{{Suburbia}} suburban sprawl]] through the second half of TheEighties and during TheNineties, the decade when downtown theaters slowly got squeezed out of business, unable to compete with the massive profits made by this new breed of theater.

Multiplexes caused the moviegoing experience to undergo a fundamental shift, and very few would argue that the shift was for the better - it went from well-appointed theaters with well-dressed, butler-like staff (something that is now seen only in special cases, like the [[Creator/EastmanKodak Kodak]] and Chinese Theatres in Hollywood) to massive, fairly spartan auditoriums with floors covered in dropped popcorn and spilled soda (both of which are ridiculously overpriced), staffed by young people making minimum wage and not particularly happy about it -- movie theater jobs are often considered to be next to [[BurgerFool fast food]] in terms of crappy, humiliating employment for teenagers.

However, there was some push back from the opposing camp of viewers who tried to encourage more discerning tastes, such as when two movie critics from Chicago newspapers, Creator/RogerEbert of the ''Sun-Times'' and Gene Siskel of the ''Tribune'', starting doing TV on the PBS show, ''Sneak Previews'', on the side. As such, they later created the long running syndicated movie review TV show, ''Series/SiskelAndEbert'', that became a popular mainstay for decades spreading insightful film reviews from the wordy newspapers and magazines to a more easily digestible medium. While obviously it could not raise all the public's taste, the duo and their imitators at least could help make good artistic work pay off and any halfway ambitious movie studio still knows that credible praise is valuable stuff in marketing. After all, there's a reason that S & E's trademarked catch phrase, "Two Thumbs Up," was front and center for any advertisement for movies earning it.

The latest date that can be given for the start of the Blockbuster Age is 1982, which saw the release of a slew of summer blockbusters that are now regarded as classics, including: ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'', ''Film/TheThing1982'', ''Film/RockyIII'', ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'', ''Film/BladeRunner'', ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}'', ''Film/{{TRON}}'', and ''Film/TheRoadWarrior''. 1982 is often regarded as Hollywood's second "golden year" in terms of creativity and classic films, not unlike how 1939 is considered to be the highpoint of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood. Other memorable films released around this time include ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'', ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', and the first film to be released with the new PG-13 rating, ''Film/RedDawn1984''.

In the 2000s and 2010s, there have been further developments in moviemaking. While adapting popular media to the screen is as old as film itself, it was not until the ''Film/HarryPotter'' series when Hollywood took note of it. Since then, a flurry of novels ([[YoungAdultLiterature primarily teen-oriented]]), comic books (eventually forming the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse), [[Film/{{Transformers}} 1980s TV shows (primarily cartoons)]], comic strips and [[WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie even toys]] have been translated to Hollywood to varying degrees of success.

With the decline of print journalism and movie review TV shows,online reviewing has exploded with both professionals from the remaining print publications' websites and exclusive website and amateurs. Furthermore, ways have been found to make their influence more organized as a whole with the rise of aggregate review sites like RottenTomatoes and Metacritic providing scores that now have the influence that "Two Thumbs Up" used to have.

The international market for Hollywood films has grown more prominent than ever, and has even begun to overshadow the once all-important domestic North American market. For instance, the true biggest animated feature film of 2011 ''worldwide'', ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda 2'' earned a gross of $665,692,281 with 75.2% of it from international markets, including $95 million from China alone.[[note]]When you consider how China happens to be kung fu's native soil, while also being the world's most populous country, you start to see how this trend might affect the ''content'' of Hollywood films in the future (there have been some cases).[[/note]] Furthermore, the Creator/StevenSpielberg film ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin'' earned $230 million (more than covering its budget) ''before'' it ever opened in North America outside of the Canadian province of Quebec, and a remarkably short-sighted failure to account for the international popularity of ''Film/TheGoldenCompass'' ultimately [[CreatorKiller destroyed New Line Cinema as an independent studio]].[[note]]''Film/TheGoldenCompass'' made over $300 million overseas, but unfortunately for New Line, they had sold off all of the international distribution rights in order to raise money, meaning that the only red cent they saw from the $180 million blockbuster fantasy film was its $70 million domestic gross. This has been cited as the "last straw" in Time Warner's decision to fold New Line into WarnerBros[[/note]] And films like the ''Fast & Furious'' series, ''Transformers'' and ''Minions'' among others have become more popular overseas than in the domestic market.

The internet offers several new revenue streams for the studios, most notably streaming movies from home. With Netflix leading the way in this area, the studios can look ahead to a future where they can charge customers every time they want to watch movies at home -- something that was attempted in TheNineties with the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIVX_(Digital_Video_Express) DIVX]] disc system, but which didn't take (chiefly because DIVX was a physical format). Many of the major film companies are now planning to try out a "premium download" distribution model to offer downloads of their theatrical feature films only one or two months after their theatrical release for around $30 each, which means that, for a bit of patience, whole families could be able to forgo going to the cinema altogether. Of course, this has run into heavy resistance from theaters -- Universal was forced to cancel plans for a limited VOD release of ''Tower Heist'' after the Cinemark and National Amusements theater companies responded by threatening to refuse to show the film. Keep in mind that this VOD release was to happen in just two cities ({{Atlanta}} and UsefulNotes/{{Portland}}), and at a price of $60 per viewing. However, while many have feared this might be the end of the blockbusters, theatrical runs have not been replaced just yet. In 2014, SonyPictures got the necessity to do it for real with the film, ''Film/TheInterview'', when vague terrorist threats against showing it caused all the major theatre chains to drop the film. As a result, Sony decided to shelve the film, which drew a storm of criticism ranging from media pundits to US President UsefulNotes/BarackObama himself about "giving in to terrorists." As a result of the pressure, Sony decided to open it not only in the few independent theaters willing to air it, but also simultaneously made it available online such as on [=iTunes=] and Google Play as well. The result of this move was that it earned about $31 million. And in 2015, for instance, attendance records were broken ''twice'' (first by ''Film/JurassicWorld'' and then by ''Film/TheForceAwakens''), while other films such as ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'' and ''Film/AmericanSniper'' also got impressive figures, showing that the film industry is alive and well, and will remain for years to come.

The latest date that can be given for the start of the Blockbuster Age is 1982, which saw the release of a slew of summer blockbusters that are now regarded as classics, including: ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'', ''Film/TheThing1982'', ''RockyIII'', ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'', ''Film/BladeRunner'', ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}'', ''Film/{{TRON}}'', and ''TheRoadWarrior''. 1982 is often regarded as Hollywood's second "golden year" in terms of creativity and classic films, not unlike how 1939 is considered to be the highpoint of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood. Other memorable films released around this time include ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'', ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', and the first film to be released with the new PG-13 rating, ''Film/RedDawn1984''.

The internet offers several new revenue streams for the studios, most notably streaming movies from home. With Netflix leading the way in this area, the studios can look ahead to a future where they can charge customers every time they want to watch movies at home -- something that was attempted in TheNineties with the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIVX_(Digital_Video_Express) DIVX]] disc system, but which didn't take (chiefly because DIVX was a physical format). Many of the major film companies are now planning to try out a "premium download" distribution model to offer downloads of their theatrical feature films only one or two months after their theatrical release for around $30 each, which means that, for a bit of patience, whole families could be able to forgo going to the cinema altogether. Of course, this has run into heavy resistance from theaters -- Universal was forced to cancel plans for a limited VOD release of ''Tower Heist'' after the Cinemark and National Amusements theater companies responded by threatening to refuse to show the film. Keep in mind that this VOD release was to happen in just two cities ({{Atlanta}} and UsefulNotes/{{Portland}}), and at a price of $60 per viewing. However, theatrical runs have not been replaced just yet. In 2014, SonyPictures got the necessity to do it for real with the film, ''Film/TheInterview'', when vague terrorist threats against showing it caused all the major theatre chains to drop the film. As a result, Sony decided to shelve the film, which drew a storm of criticism ranging from media pundits to US President UsefulNotes/BarackObama himself about "giving in to terrorists." As a result of the pressure, Sony decided to open it not only in the few independent theaters willing to air it, but also simultaneously made it available online such as on [=iTunes=] and Google Play as well. The result of this move was that it earned about $31 million, suggesting that full theatrical runs are still necessary to make a real profit from feature films for some time to come.

!!'''Roll credits?'''

Some have argued that this era of Hollywood history may soon be coming to an end, and that Hollywood is on the edge of another fall on the scale of what it experienced in the '60s. The most popular reason cited is the "blockbuster mentality" of the major studios. The trend of fewer, bigger films has been going on since TheFifties, but it truly picked up with the rise of the SummerBlockbuster. Studios are investing ever-growing amounts of money into their blockbusters (it was only two decades ago that [[Film/{{Waterworld}} $175 million]] was an obscene price tag; such a number wouldn't even raise an eyebrow today) in the hopes that they will produce ever-growing returns at the box office. So far, rising ticket prices have helped to cover for these rising costs, and 3D technology is providing a new(-ish) novelty for people to pay for, but at what price point will the average moviegoer say ''"enough!"'' and refuse to pay money to see a movie?

With a massive recession enduring the entire second half of the 2000s and the whole first half of the 2010s, some feel this point may come sooner than expected. Theater attendance in 2010 saw an 5% drop from the year before, bringing it to its lowest levels since 1996, a figure that doesn't account for the fact that the US population has risen by 47 million in the fifteen years in between. But taking in the population growth in the US, it's even more concerning to see a new 16-year low in theater attendance in 2011 (1.28 billion compared to 1995's 1.26 billion) while ticket revenue saw a further 3.5% drop from the previous year. The cause for this drop is still being analyzed, but general consensus is pointing at the inability to rake in money from increased 3D ticket price and the obligatory drop to regular 2D ticket price. Other factors, such as the economic crisis and spiraling inflation also had some effects on this phenomenon.

The late 2000s and early 2010s marked the rise of "The Franchise Age of Hollywood". Since ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' and ''Franchise/StarWars'', sequels have become a gimmick to attract moviegoers. And while adapting popular media to the screen is as old as film itself, it was not until the ''Film/HarryPotter'' series when Hollywood took note of it. Since then, a flurry of novels ([[YoungAdultLiterature primarily teen-oriented]]), comic books (eventually forming the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse), [[Film/{{Transformers}} 1980s TV shows (primarily cartoons)]], comic strips and [[WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie even toys]] have been translated to Hollywood to varying degrees of success.

Several analysts have also pointed out the fact that 2011 is also the year that the most-assured box office contributing demographic -- young children and their parents -- did not bring in as much gross revenue. Due to weak anticipation and negative word-of-mouth from early screenings, the biggest animated feature of 2011 -- ''{{WesternAnimation/Cars}} 2'' -- finished its theatrical run at around $191m in the United States, making it the first highest grossing animated film of the year since 2005 to fail to reach the $200m mark. Other family features of the same time period have done even less to attract this crowded, tolerating demographic, domestically, such as ''[[Film/GulliversTravels2010 Gulliver's Travels]]'', ''Film/YogiBear'' and ''Film/MrPoppersPenguins'', all three saved from bombing by overseas sales. Indeed, ''Film/TheMuppets'', ''{{Film/Hugo}}'', and other family-oriented productions had been expected to save the year for studios during the traditionally lucrative Thanksgiving-to-New-Year's period, but instead struggled to attract crowds despite good and even excellent reviews. Again, rising ticket and concession prices are cited as a prime culprit here. The franchise trend consolidated in the early-to-mid 2010s with a huge portion of the top 10 films of 2013 were sequels or extensions. The factor of the source product's popularity has also played an instrumental part of how the film will perform: In 2014, all but a handful of films that managed to gross over 200 million worldwide were from well-known franchises.

Also, with the decline of print journalism and movie review TV shows, especially now with critics Gene Siskel and Creator/RogerEbert now dead, there has been some carping that film critics now have no influence over the din of movie marketing. However, online reviewing has exploded with both professionals from the remaining print publications' websites and exclusive website and amateurs. Furthermore, ways have been found to make their influence more organized as a whole with the rise of aggregate review sites like RottenTomatoes and Metacritic providing scores that now have the influence that "Two Thumbs Up" used to have.

By contrast, the international market for Hollywood films has grown more prominent than ever, and has even begun to overshadow the once all-important domestic North American market. For instance, the true biggest animated feature film of 2011 ''worldwide'', ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda 2'' earned a gross of $665,692,281 with 75.2% of it from international markets, including $95 million from China alone.[[note]]When you consider how China happens to be kung fu's native soil, while also being the world's most populous country, you start to see how this trend might affect the ''content'' of Hollywood films in the future (there have been some cases).[[/note]] Furthermore, the Creator/StevenSpielberg film ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin'' earned $230 million (more than covering its budget) ''before'' it ever opened in North America outside of the Canadian province of Quebec, and a remarkably short-sighted failure to account for the international popularity of ''Film/TheGoldenCompass'' ultimately [[CreatorKiller destroyed New Line Cinema as an independent studio]].[[note]]''Film/TheGoldenCompass'' made over $300 million overseas, but unfortunately for New Line, they had sold off all of the international distribution rights in order to raise money, meaning that the only red cent they saw from the $180 million blockbuster fantasy film was its $70 million domestic gross. This has been cited as the "last straw" in Time Warner's decision to fold New Line into WarnerBros[[/note]] And films like the ''Fast & Furious'' series, ''Transformers'' and ''Minions'' among others have become more popular overseas than in the domestic market.

Another culprit is that age-old nemesis of the film industry, television. For decades, Hollywood had three key advantages over television -- standards for decency were much lower on the big screen than on the small one (the lasting legacy of the fall of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode and the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era), the rise of home video in TheEighties made it much easier to catch up on an old movie than on [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes an old TV series]], and finally, the experience of seeing a movie (especially [[EpicMovie a blockbuster effects film]]) in a theater was something that no television set, no matter how big the screen, could hope to match. All three of these shields have had big holes blown in them in the last decade. The rise of cable television (which has much more lenient {{Media Watchdog}}s) as a major outlet for original programming has brought [[BloodierAndGorier much]] [[DarkerAndEdgier edgier]] [[HotterAndSexier material]] to the small screen, belittling Hollywood on such content and leading to what has been described as a creative renaissance and a new golden age for American television. The emergence of {{Creator/Hulu}}, {{Creator/Netflix}} and, most importantly, affordable DVD box sets of television shows means that TV viewers now have decades worth of material to watch that once could only be accessed by way of [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes bootlegs]]. Finally, high-definition [=TVs=] and surround sound audio systems have plunged drastically in price, with the former becoming the new standard (to the point where standard-definition [=TVs=] aren't even made anymore) and the latter, while still a luxury, no longer restricted to millionaires who could afford their own private theaters.[[note]]Although this is still more of a "hobby" prospect for the moment.[[/note]] An upper-middle class consumer can now enjoy all the {{spectacle}} of the movies in the comfort of his or her sofa, without having to pay $7 for popcorn and put up with fellow moviegoers playing ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' on their phones.

And speaking of ''Angry Birds'', [[NewMedia the internet]] and [[VideoGames mobile games]] have entered the pop culture arena to grab a growing share of the American populace's money and attention, filling much the same role that game arcades and consoles had in TheEighties and television did in TheFifties. Video games have become big business, with much being made of the fact that the video game industry's revenue has surpassed Hollywood's for several years now, as well as the fact that games like ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' and ''{{Franchise/Halo}}'' are setting revenue records not only for games, but for entertainment releases in general. Studios not only have to schedule their movies to avoid competing with each other, but also, increasingly, to avoid competing with big video game releases (especially in the case of [[MostGamersAreMale action movies]]). And the internet, for its part, has not only created a [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil digital piracy threat]] that some fear will overwhelm Hollywood just as it did the music industry, but it has also created new legal avenues for content distribution, such as {{Creator/Netflix}}, Website/YouTube and {{Creator/Hulu}}. At least in this case, the two blood rivals of film and television are effectively one in the impact of the Internet on their business.

On the plus side, the internet offers several new revenue streams for the studios, most notably streaming movies from home. With Netflix leading the way in this area, the studios can look ahead to a future where they can charge customers every time they want to watch movies at home -- something that was attempted in TheNineties with the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIVX_(Digital_Video_Express) DIVX]] disc system, but which didn't take (chiefly because DIVX was a physical format). Many of the major film companies are now planning to try out a "premium download" distribution model to offer downloads of their theatrical feature films only one or two months after their theatrical release for around $30 each, which means that, for a bit of patience, whole families could be able to forgo going to the cinema altogether. Of course, this has run into heavy resistance from theaters -- Universal was forced to cancel plans for a limited VOD release of ''Tower Heist'' after the Cinemark and National Amusements theater companies responded by threatening to refuse to show the film. Keep in mind that this VOD release was to happen in just two cities ({{Atlanta}} and UsefulNotes/{{Portland}}), and at a price of $60 per viewing. In 2014, SonyPictures got the necessity to do it for real with the film, ''Film/TheInterview'', when vague terrorist threats against showing it caused all the major theatre chains to drop the film. As a result, Sony decided to shelve the film, which drew a storm of criticism ranging from media pundits to US President UsefulNotes/BarackObama himself about "giving in to terrorists." As a result of the pressure, Sony decided to open it not only in the few independent theaters willing to air it, but also simultaneously made it available online such as on [=iTunes=] and Google Play as well. The result of this move was that it earned about $31 million, suggesting that full theatrical runs are still necessary to make a real profit from feature films for some time to come.

The much-expected economic recovery has also given the film industry a badly needed kick in the pants during 2015, the year attendance records were broken ''twice'' (first by ''Film/JurassicWorld'' and then by ''Film/TheForceAwakens''), while other films such as ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'' and ''Film/AmericanSniper'' also got impressive figures. What made this trend peculiar was the absence of the "popcorn appeal". Indeed, many films made that year featuring A-list actors (''Film/TerminatorGenisys'' with Arnold Schwarzenegger, ''Film/{{Tomorrowland}}'' with George Clooney and ''Pan'' with Hugh Jackman among others) became notorious bombs [[note]]Though proving the strength of international markets, ''Genisys'' became the first American movie - and second overall, after [[Film/{{Intouchables}} a French production]] - that broke $400 million worldwide without surpassing $100 million in North America.[[/note]] while many "indie"-styled movies have not only been subject to more attention from the audience, but from the studio themselves.

The concept of "star power," the idea that having big-name actors is able to guarantee a box office smash, has also become rather questionable in recent years. While there are still some actors who can push a movie to the top by virtue of their presence alone (Creator/WillSmith, for instance. But ''Film/AfterEarth'' and ''Literature/WintersTale'' [[BrokenStreak have shown that even he's]] [[NotSoAboveItAll not impervious to failure.]]), the emerging trend, not dissimilar to what was seen in UsefulNotes/NewHollywood, is that characters, concepts, and [[AuteurLicense directors]] are attracting audiences more than A-list stars. Movies with casts of mostly unknown or [[PoorMansSubstitute C-list]] actors are becoming smash hits (Creator/JamesCameron's ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' films, and all the movies based on [[ComicBookAdaptation comic book]] or [[MerchandiseDriven toy]] properties are prime cases), while "star vehicles," once a sure bet, are an increasingly hit-or-miss prospect (see, for instance, ''Film/KnightAndDay'' and ''Film/TheTourist''). [[http://www.suite101.com/content/is-film-stardom-dead-a174076 Many have]] [[http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/culture-warrior-the-21st-century-movie-star.php questioned]] whether the "movie star" is even relevant anymore in today's film industry.

Of course, complaining about the "death of Hollywood" is like complaining about the "death of the music industry": it's practically a professional sport on the internet these days, and is [[InternetBackdraft an easy way]] to start a ready-made FlameWar. Furthermore this carping is hardly new, the topic was raised among professionals during the UsefulNotes/GoldenAgeOfHollywood when film reigned supreme as popular entertainment. The opposing side claims that the film industry was facing all of these problems in different forms during the UsefulNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem and still managed to come out just fine, so it can make it out of this too. Which side will be VindicatedByHistory? [[ToBeContinued Stay tuned]].

For information on the development of animation during this period, see UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation and UsefulNotes/TheMillenniumAgeOfAnimation.

The latest date that can be given for the start of the Blockbuster Age is 1982, which saw the release of a slew of summer blockbusters that are now regarded as classics, including: ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'', ''Film/TheThing1982'', ''RockyIII'', ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'', ''Film/BladeRunner'', ''Film/{{Poltergeist}}'', ''Film/{{TRON}}'', and ''TheRoadWarrior''. 1982 is often regarded as Hollywood's second "golden year" in terms of creativity and classic films, not unlike how 1939 is considered to be the highpoint of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood. Other memorable films released around this time include ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'', ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', and the first film to be released with the new PG-13 rating, ''Film/RedDawn1984''.

The late 2000s and early 2010s marked the rise of "The Franchise Age of Hollywood". Since ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' and ''Franchise/StarWars'', sequels have become a gimmick to attract moviegoers. And while adapting popular media to the screen is as old as film itself, it was not until the ''Film/HarryPotter'' series when Hollywood took note of it. Since then, a flurry of novels ([[YoungAdultLiterature primarily teen-oriented]]), comic books (eventually forming the MarvelCinematicUniverse), [[Film/{{Transformers}} 1980s TV shows (primarily cartoons)]], comic strips and [[WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie even toys]] have been translated to Hollywood to varying degrees of success.

Some have argued that this era of Hollywood history may soon be coming to an end, and that Hollywood is on the edge of another fall on the scale of what it experienced in the '60s. The most popular reason cited is the "blockbuster mentality" of the major studios. The trend of fewer, bigger films has been going on since TheFifties, but it truly picked up with the rise of the SummerBlockbuster. Studios are investing ever-growing amounts of money into their blockbusters (it was only two decades ago that [[Film/{{Waterworld}} $175 million]] was an obscene price tag; such a number wouldn't even raise an eyebrow today) in the hopes that they will produce ever-growing returns at the box office. So far, rising ticket prices have helped to cover for these rising costs, and [[ThreeDMovie 3D technology]] is providing a new(-ish) novelty for people to pay for, but at what price point will the average moviegoer say ''"enough!"'' and refuse to pay money to see a movie?

Just a few years later, this idea was reinforced with the wild success of ''Film/{{Superman}}'' and ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' in 1979, which showed that adaptations from media previously scoffed at by Hollywood, such as the ComicBook SuperHero and genre TV series, had potential to become big-time film genres. The huge success of these films -- and another '79 entry, ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'' -- with children was also noted. That audience segment was ignored by New Hollywood after the stretch of family-friendly musicals in the dying days of Old Hollywood resulted in huge financial losses for major studios, with only Disney offering anything to kids for years; these new successes proved once more that they were worth aiming A-list fare at. The combined effect of all this was to kick off (and name) the Blockbuster Age.

For information on the development of animation during this period, see TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation and TheMillenniumAgeOfAnimation.

The much-expected economic recovery has also given the film industry a badly needed kick in the pants during 2015, the year attendance records were broken ''twice'' (first by ''Film/JurassicWorld'' and then by ''Film/TheForceAwakens''), while other films such as ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', ''Film/{{Kingsman}}'' and ''Film/AmericanSniper'' also got impressive figures. What made this trend peculiar was the absence of the "popcorn appeal". Indeed, many films made that year featuring A-list actors (''Terminator: Genisys'' with Arnold Schwarzenegger, ''Tomorrowland'' with George Clooney and ''Pan'' with Hugh Jackman among others) became notorious bombs while many "indie"-styled movies have not only been subject to more attention from the audience, but from the studio themselves.

The concept of "star power," the idea that having big-name actors is able to guarantee a box office smash, has also become rather questionable in recent years. While there are still some actors who can push a movie to the top by virtue of their presence alone (WillSmith, for instance. But ''AfterEarth'' and ''Literature/WintersTale'' [[BrokenStreak have shown that even he's]] [[NotSoAboveItAll not impervious to failure.]]), the emerging trend, not dissimilar to what was seen in UsefulNotes/NewHollywood, is that characters, concepts, and [[AuteurLicense directors]] are attracting audiences more than A-list stars. Movies with casts of mostly unknown or [[PoorMansSubstitute C-list]] actors are becoming smash hits (Creator/JamesCameron's ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' films, and all the movies based on [[ComicBookAdaptation comic book]] or [[MerchandiseDriven toy]] properties are prime cases), while "star vehicles," once a sure bet, are an increasingly hit-or-miss prospect (see, for instance, ''Film/KnightAndDay'' and ''Film/TheTourist''). [[http://www.suite101.com/content/is-film-stardom-dead-a174076 Many have]] [[http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/culture-warrior-the-21st-century-movie-star.php questioned]] whether the "movie star" is even relevant anymore in today's film industry.

The concept of "star power," the idea that having big-name actors is able to guarantee a box office smash, has also become rather questionable in recent years. While there are still some actors who can push a movie to the top by virtue of their presence alone (WillSmith, for instance. But ''AfterEarth'' and ''Literature/WintersTale'' [[BrokenStreak have shown that even he's]] [[NotSoAboveItAll not impervious to failure.]]), the emerging trend, not dissimilar to what was seen in UsefulNotes/NewHollywood, is that characters, concepts, and [[AuteurLicense directors]] are attracting audiences more than A-list stars. Movies with casts of mostly unknown or [[PoorMansSubstitute C-list]] actors are becoming smash hits (Creator/JamesCameron's ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' films, and all the movies based on [[ComicBookAdaptation comic book]] or [[MerchandiseDriven toy]] properties are prime cases), while "star vehicles," once a sure bet, are an increasingly hit-or-miss prospect (see, for instance, ''KnightAndDay'' and ''TheTourist''). [[http://www.suite101.com/content/is-film-stardom-dead-a174076 Many have]] [[http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/culture-warrior-the-21st-century-movie-star.php questioned]] whether the "movie star" is even relevant anymore in today's film industry.

Some have argued that this era of Hollywood history may soon be coming to an end, and that Hollywood is on the edge of another fall on the scale of what it experienced in the '60s. The most popular reason cited is the "blockbuster mentality" of the major studios. The trend of fewer, bigger films has been going on since TheFifties, but it truly picked up with the rise of the SummerBlockbuster. Studios are investing ever-growing amounts of money into their blockbusters (it was less than twenty years ago that [[Film/{{Waterworld}} $175 million]] was an obscene price tag; such a number wouldn't even raise an eyebrow today) in the hopes that they will produce ever-growing returns at the box office. So far, rising ticket prices have helped to cover for these rising costs, and [[ThreeDMovie 3D technology]] is providing a new(-ish) novelty for people to pay for, but at what price point will the average moviegoer say ''"enough!"'' and refuse to pay money to see a movie?

The Blockbuster Age of Hollywood is the age that we are currently living in. It marks the end of the creative freedom and excesses of the NewHollywood era and the rise of a new studio system, built upon the ashes of the old. This time, there are only six major studios: Creator/{{Sony}} (releasing films under the Creator/ColumbiaPictures imprint), Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, [[Creator/{{Universal}} Universal Studios]], Creator/WarnerBros, [[Creator/{{Paramount}} Paramount Pictures]] and [[Creator/{{Disney}} Walt Disney Pictures]] (releasing mature films under the Creator/TouchstonePictures label). Creator/{{MGM}} still exists, but as a shadow of its former self owned by its creditors, and a major studio [[GrandfatherClause only by virtue of]] [[GloryDays its history]].

There is significant overlap between the end of NewHollywood and the start of the Blockbuster Age. While New Hollywood is generally held to have ended in the early '80s after a string of expensive, high-profile flops, the beginning of the Blockbuster Age is generally pinned much earlier, in the year 1975. This year marked the arrival of one Creator/StevenSpielberg into mainstream Hollywood, with his classic shark film ''Film/{{Jaws}}''. ''Jaws'' was a revolution in cinema, marking a shift towards advertising, HighConcept and disciplined production as ways of producing high-quality, commercially viable films. This was followed up two years later by the success of Spielberg's ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'' and Creator/GeorgeLucas' ''Franchise/StarWars'' (later retitled ''Franchise/StarWars Episode IV: Film/ANewHope''), which revitalized the science fiction genre. ''Star Wars'' also showed Hollywood how [[MerchandiseDriven merchandising]], {{spinoff}}s into other media, and sequels could be used by the studios to return to profitability. Together, ''Jaws'', ''Close Encounters'' and ''Star Wars'' invented the SummerBlockbuster as Hollywood's new paradigm for filmmaking.

Another factor in the return of Hollywood to profitability was the rise of the multiplex theater, something that began during the NewHollywood era [[note]]although, depending on your definition, the first multiplex opened as early as the 1930s[[/note]] but truly took off in the [[UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Reagan]] years and after. The multiplex follows a fairly simple logic: if you have more screens, then you can run more showings of more movies, and can therefore make [[MoneyDearBoy more money]]! Six-screen theaters were opening by the end of TheSeventies, and by TheNineties, they had gone UpToEleven with 20-screen "megaplex" theaters and beyond. It is no coincidence that the rise of the multiplex occurred at the same time as the boom of malls and big-box stores; most multiplexes were part of such complexes, and like their retail cousins, were a driving force behind [[{{Suburbia}} suburban sprawl]] through the second half of TheEighties and during TheNineties, the decade when downtown theaters slowly got squeezed out of business, unable to compete with the massive profits made by this new breed of theater.

However, unlike 1939, 1982 most certainly did ''not'' come at a high point for the studios financially. Hollywood spent much of TheEighties reeling from the fallout of the NewHollywood era, and the combined share of the six surviving major studios from the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood Golden Age]] had fallen to just 64% by 1986 -- the lowest it had been since the days of silent film. Two young studios -- Orion and Tri-Star -- maintained about 6% market share each, Disney had about 10%, and smaller independents (the largest being New Line, "the house that [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy]] built") would together make up 13% (more than any one studio besides Paramount).

Another culprit is that age-old nemesis of the film industry, television. For decades, Hollywood had three key advantages over television -- standards for decency were much lower on the big screen than on the small one (the lasting legacy of the fall of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode and the NewHollywood era), the rise of home video in TheEighties made it much easier to catch up on an old movie than on [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes an old TV series]], and finally, the experience of seeing a movie (especially [[EpicMovie a blockbuster effects film]]) in a theater was something that no television set, no matter how big the screen, could hope to match. All three of these shields have had big holes blown in them in the last decade. The rise of cable television (which has much more lenient {{Media Watchdog}}s) as a major outlet for original programming has brought [[BloodierAndGorier much]] [[DarkerAndEdgier edgier]] [[HotterAndSexier material]] to the small screen, belittling Hollywood on such content and leading to what has been described as a creative renaissance and a new golden age for American television. The emergence of {{Creator/Hulu}}, {{Creator/Netflix}} and, most importantly, affordable DVD box sets of television shows means that TV viewers now have decades worth of material to watch that once could only be accessed by way of [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes bootlegs]]. Finally, high-definition [=TVs=] and surround sound audio systems have plunged drastically in price, with the former becoming the new standard (to the point where standard-definition [=TVs=] aren't even made anymore) and the latter, while still a luxury, no longer restricted to millionaires who could afford their own private theaters.[[note]]Although this is still more of a "hobby" prospect for the moment.[[/note]] An upper-middle class consumer can now enjoy all the {{spectacle}} of the movies in the comfort of his or her sofa, without having to pay $7 for popcorn and put up with fellow moviegoers playing ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' on their phones.

The concept of "star power," the idea that having big-name actors is able to guarantee a box office smash, has also become rather questionable in recent years. While there are still some actors who can push a movie to the top by virtue of their presence alone (WillSmith, for instance. But ''AfterEarth'' and ''Literature/WintersTale'' [[BrokenStreak have shown that even he's]] [[NotSoAboveItAll not impervious to failure.]]), the emerging trend, not dissimilar to what was seen in NewHollywood, is that characters, concepts, and [[AuteurLicense directors]] are attracting audiences more than A-list stars. Movies with casts of mostly unknown or [[PoorMansSubstitute C-list]] actors are becoming smash hits (Creator/JamesCameron's ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' films, and all the movies based on [[ComicBookAdaptation comic book]] or [[MerchandiseDriven toy]] properties are prime cases), while "star vehicles," once a sure bet, are an increasingly hit-or-miss prospect (see, for instance, ''KnightAndDay'' and ''TheTourist''). [[http://www.suite101.com/content/is-film-stardom-dead-a174076 Many have]] [[http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/culture-warrior-the-21st-century-movie-star.php questioned]] whether the "movie star" is even relevant anymore in today's film industry.

With a massive recession underway, some feel this point may be coming sooner rather than later. Theater attendance in 2010 saw an 5% drop from the year before, bringing it to its lowest levels since 1996, a figure that doesn't account for the fact that the US population has risen by 47 million in the fifteen years in between. But taking in the population growth in the US, it's even more concerning to see a new 16-year low in theater attendance in 2011 (1.28 billion compared to 1995's 1.26 billion) while ticket revenue saw a further 3.5% drop from the previous year. The cause for this drop is still being analyzed, but general consensus is pointing at the inability to rake in money from increased 3D ticket price and the obligatory drop to regular 2D ticket price. Other factors, such as the ongoing economic crisis and spiraling inflation also have some effects on this phenomenon.

Several analysts have also pointed out the fact that 2011 is also the year that the most-assured box office contributing demographic -- young children and their parents -- did not bring in as much gross revenue. Due to weak anticipation and negative word-of-mouth from early screenings, the biggest animated feature of 2011 -- ''{{WesternAnimation/Cars}} 2'' -- finished its theatrical run at around $191m in the United States, making it the first highest grossing animated film of the year since 2005 to fail to reach the $200m mark. Other family features of the same time period have done even less to attract this crowded, tolerating demographic, domestically, such as ''Film/GulliversTravels2010'', ''YogiBear'' and ''Film/MrPoppersPenguins'', all three saved from bombing by overseas sales. Indeed, ''Film/TheMuppets'', ''{{Film/Hugo}}'', and other family-oriented productions had been expected to save the year for studios during the traditionally lucrative Thanksgiving-to-New-Year's period, but instead struggled to attract crowds despite good and even excellent reviews. Again, rising ticket and concession prices are cited as a prime culprit here.

By contrast, the international market for Hollywood films has grown more prominent than ever, and has even begun to overshadow the once all-important domestic North American market. For instance, the true biggest animated feature film of 2011 ''worldwide'', ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda 2'' earned a gross of $665,692,281 with 75.2% of it from international markets, including $95 million from China alone.[[note]]When you consider how China happens to be kung fu's native soil, while also being the world's most populous country, you start to see how this trend might affect the ''content'' of Hollywood films in the future.[[/note]] Furthermore, the Creator/StevenSpielberg film ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin'' earned $230 million (more than covering its budget) ''before'' it ever opened in North America outside of the Canadian province of Quebec, and a remarkably short-sighted failure to account for the international popularity of ''Film/TheGoldenCompass'' ultimately [[CreatorKiller destroyed New Line Cinema as an independent studio]].[[note]]''Film/TheGoldenCompass'' made over $300 million overseas, but unfortunately for New Line, they had sold off all of the international distribution rights in order to raise money, meaning that the only red cent they saw from the $180 million blockbuster fantasy film was its $70 million domestic gross. This has been cited as the "last straw" in Time Warner's decision to fold New Line into WarnerBros[[/note]]

The late 2000s and early 2010s marked the rise of "The Franchise Age of Hollywood". Since ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' and ''Franchise/StarWars'', sequels have become a gimmick to attract moviegoers. And while adapting popular media to the screen is as old as film itself, it was not until the ''Film/HarryPotter'' series when Hollywood took note of it. Since then, a flurry of novels (primarily teen-oriented), comic books (eventually forming the MarvelCinematicUniverse), 1980s TV shows, cartoons, comic strips and even toys have been translated to Hollywood to varying degrees of success. The trend consolidated in the early-to-mid 2010s with a huge portion of the top 10 films of 2013 were sequels or extensions. The factor of the source product's popularity has also played an instrumental part of how the film will perform: In 2014, all but three films that managed to reach the "world=$200m" mark were from well-known franchises.

Another culprit is that age-old nemesis of the film industry, television. For decades, Hollywood had three key advantages over television -- standards for decency were much lower on the big screen than on the small one (the lasting legacy of the fall of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode and the NewHollywood era), the rise of home video in TheEighties made it much easier to catch up on an old movie than on [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes an old TV series]], and finally, the experience of seeing a movie (especially [[EpicMovie a blockbuster effects film]]) in a theater was something that no television set, no matter how big the screen, could hope to match. All three of these shields have had big holes blown in them in the last decade. The rise of cable television (which has much more lenient {{Media Watchdog}}s) as a major outlet for original programming has brought [[BloodierAndGorier much]] [[DarkerAndEdgier edgier]] [[HotterAndSexier material]] to the small screen, eroding Hollywood's monopoly on such content and leading to what has been described as a creative renaissance and a golden age for American television. The emergence of {{Creator/Hulu}}, {{Creator/Netflix}} and, most importantly, affordable DVD box sets of television shows means that TV viewers now have decades worth of material to watch that once could only be accessed by way of [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes bootlegs]]. Finally, high-definition [=TVs=] and surround sound audio systems have plunged drastically in price, with the former becoming the new standard (to the point where standard-definition [=TVs=] aren't even made anymore) and the latter, while still a luxury, no longer restricted to millionaires who could afford their own private theaters.[[note]]Although, once again, the recession and the ensuing stigma against buying on credit could make the latter a shaky prospect.[[/note]] An upper-middle class consumer can now enjoy all the {{spectacle}} of the movies in the comfort of his or her sofa, without having to pay $7 for popcorn and put up with fellow moviegoers playing ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' on their phones.

And speaking of ''Angry Birds'', [[NewMedia the internet]] and VideoGames have entered the pop culture arena to grab a growing share of the American populace's money and attention, filling much the same role that television did in TheFifties. Video games have become big business, with much being made of the fact that the video game industry's revenue has surpassed Hollywood's for several years now, as well as the fact that games like ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' and ''{{Franchise/Halo}}'' are setting revenue records not only for games, but for entertainment releases in general. Studios not only have to schedule their movies to avoid competing with each other, but also, increasingly, to avoid competing with big video game releases (especially in the case of [[MostGamersAreMale action movies]]). And the internet, for its part, has not only created a [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil digital piracy threat]] that some fear will overwhelm Hollywood just as it did the music industry, but it has also created new legal avenues for content distribution, such as {{Creator/Netflix}}, Website/YouTube and {{Creator/Hulu}}. At least in this case, the two blood rivals of film and television are effectively one in the impact of the Internet on their business.

The second major effect only became apparent at the start of TheNineties: it created a generation of young film geeks who had spent much of their lives watching old films on video, picking up the various techniques used by classic directors, and deciding that they wanted to become filmmakers themselves. People like Creator/QuentinTarantino, Creator/KevinSmith, Creator/SpikeLee and Creator/StevenSoderbergh made such films as ''Film/ReservoirDogs'', ''Film/PulpFiction'', ''Film/{{Clerks}}'', ''DoTheRightThing'' and ''SexLiesAndVideotape'', sparking a renaissance in independent film that lasts to this day. Other directors, such as Creator/TheCoenBrothers, worked with both independent and major studios interchangeably.

The BlockbusterAgeOfHollywood is the age that we are currently living in. It marks the end of the creative freedom and excesses of the NewHollywood era and the rise of a new studio system, built upon the ashes of the old. This time, there are only six major studios: Creator/{{Sony}} (releasing films under the Creator/ColumbiaPictures imprint), Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox, [[Creator/{{Universal}} Universal Studios]], Creator/WarnerBros, [[Creator/{{Paramount}} Paramount Pictures]] and [[Creator/{{Disney}} Walt Disney Pictures]] (releasing mature films under the Creator/TouchstonePictures label). Creator/{{MGM}} still exists, but as a shadow of its former self owned by its creditors, and a major studio [[GrandfatherClause only by virtue of]] [[GloryDays its history]].