Looking back at its success, I maintain that Batman, not Star Wars (and certainly not Jaws), is the movie most responsible for the current Hollywood blockbuster. Sure, it wasn’t the first Hollywood blockbuster whose popularity partially stemmed from a book or a play. Unlike the fantasy blockbusters that followed Star Wars, Batman was sold around its existing source material. The result is that now everyone sees the same four-quadrant tentpoles and adult movies die in theaters. And the death of the star vehicle meant the death of the original blockbuster or at least a blockbuster where the IP wasn’t the primary selling point.

Source: Forbes June 23, 2019 14:03 UTC