“The film is regarded as one of the greatest films of all time; it has placed in the top ten of the American Film Institute’s list of top 100.” from Wikipedia
No, the man wrote that Jaws was the first blockbuster, and my point was, he is wrong. I’ve seen documentaries; people went crazy over that GWTW; long lines, etc. Factor in inflation and percent of population, it probably still is the most seen movie and highest grossing movie ever. And, no one will remember Jaws that much, other than that warning music. I saw it; it was hyped so much it was disappointing. It came out in ‘39, rather than ‘38.
One cousin said that after “Jaws”, she started always looking back down into the toilet before she sat down on it to do her business. (Guess she still does.)
There’s a difference between a movie that made a lot of money and a blockbuster. Blockbusters make big money fast. When GWTW came out you actually couldn’t have a blockbuster, they didn’t make enough prints, movies wended their way around the country. Jaws was one of the first big steps to the wide release model we have today (though even it went out “phased” with some cities getting it one week and then expanding over the next month). Also Jaws was the first big summer hit, prior to then summer was a dump zone because Hollywood figured nobody would want to see movies during the nice weather. The modern summer blockbuster tent-pole system exists because of Jaws and Star Wars (which proved Jaws wasn’t a fluke).
So yes, Jaws is the first blockbuster. Even with GWTW making more adjusted money.