Whatever else [THE GODFATHER, JAWS, and THE EXORCIST] proved
about the dream state of the national psyche, they proved without a
shadow (f a doubt that a single picture could carry the entire industry
for a year and could carry the individual company that produced and
distributed it, or the exhibitor mho played it, for several years.
HARLAN JACOBSON, Film Comment, 1980

The "Blockbuster Syndrome": A New Kind of Gambling
ORIGINS

The industry recession and shakeout of 1969-1971 taught the majors that the regular flow of product was no longer profitable because there was no longer a regular and predictable audience for their films. In 1969, they had seen the low-budget "youthcult" film EASY RIDER (Dennis Hopper) return $19.2 million in domestic rentals, while the expensively produced musicals HELLO, DOLLY! (Gene...