Answer: Jaws

Prior to 1975, summertime was considered by Hollywood executives and movie theater employees alike to be a graveyard: a dead zone where beautiful weather and outdoor activities kept people out of the theaters and gave Hollywood little motivation to turn out high-quality content.

All of that changed with the release of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws in the summer of 1975. The film not only smashed all previous summer box office records but all box office records period. Those records stood until two years later when the summer release of Star Wars blew through them both. The success of both films firmly cemented the concept of “summer blockbuster” in the public consciousness and Hollywood took note; every year since they’ve done their best to lure people away from summer activities and into theaters with high production value action-filled movies.