Hollywood’s Global Blockbusters
26-30 September 2022
Which films have been most successful in cinemas around the world in recent
decades? Can we find similarities between these films; in other words: do they form
patterns? And if so, do these patterns change over time?
This course attempts to give some answers to the above questions but it is
also designed to enable students to carry out their own research and come up with
their own answers, not only to do with hit patterns but also with the production
histories, marketing and reception of individual hit movies.
The course is taught by Peter Krämer, who has been studying box office charts
in the United States and around the world for over three decades. Students will read
some of his publications and hear about some of his recent research results. This
entails reflections on the Anglo-American and wider international academic context
for such research, about sources and research procedures, and also about what
Hollywood blockbusters may have to tell us about the present state and future of
humanity, its unity and divisions, its dependence on both technology and the natural
environment, and its (imagined) place in the universe.
Students will watch and discuss key hit movies since the 1960s: 2001: A Space
Odyssey (1968), Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Avatar (2009), Gravity
(2013) and Interstellar (2014). As is obvious from this list, the overall focus is on
Science Fiction, which together with fantasy has been dominating global box office
charts since the late 1970s.
Students will also carry out small group exercises, and for these it may be
necessary to be able to access the internet in class (so everyone should bring along an
appropriate device for doing so).
After completing this course, students should be able
1) to identify and describe changing hit patterns in US and global box office charts,
2) to discuss individual hit movies in relation to these changing patterns, and
3) to find and work with relevant primary sources concerning the production,
marketing and reception of individual hit movies.
Please note that there is some overlap with the course “Hollywood Blockbusters and
the Walt Disney Company” (autumn semester 2020/21).
Peter Krämer is a Senior Research Fellow in Cinema & TV in the Leicester Media
School at De Montfort University (Leicester, UK). He also is a Senior Fellow in the
School of Art, Media and American Studies at the University of East Anglia
(Norwich, UK) and a regular guest lecturer at several other universities in the UK,
Germany and the Czech Republic. He has been doing courses at Masaryk University
for sixteen years. He is the author or editor of eleven academic books, mainly about
Hollywood cinema, and co-wrote a book about American cinema for children.
Schedule
Before the first screening on Monday, 26 September, students should read the
following piece, which is available on the digital platform for this course:
Peter Krämer, “A History of Hollywood Blockbusters”, unpublished manuscript
It is assumed that everyone has seen Star Wars (1977), but it may be useful to watch
this film again before 26 September. It would also be good if those who have never
seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) watch it before Monday.
Session 1
26 September, 9-12, Screening with short introductory lecture and, possibly, a brief
discussion afterwards: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, 150 min including overture and
exit music, plus 10 min intermission)
Reading: Peter Krämer, “’Dear Mr. Kubrick’: Audience Responses to 2001: A Space
Odyssey in the Late 1960s”, Participations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies,
vol. 6, no. 2 (November 2009), pp. 240-59,
https://www.participations.org/Volume%206/Issue%202/kramernew.pdf; ideally this
text should be read after the screening of 2001 and before the first lecture
26 September, 18-19.50, Lecture: Introduction to the Study of Hollywood’s Global
Blockbusters – Data, Companies, Filmmakers, Key Films
Small Group Exercise within the lecture slot: analysis of global box office charts
2019-2022; also perhaps discussion of 2001
Session 2
27 September, 12-14.40, Screening with brief introduction and a discussion
afterwards: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982, 115 min)
27 September, 15-16.30, Lecture: Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and the FamilyAdventure
Movie
Small Group Exercise: comparison between E.T. and 2001 (with a particular focus
on audience address)
Session 3
27 September, 16.45-19.15, Screening with brief introduction and a discussion
afterwards: Jaws (1975, 125 min)
27 September, 19.30-20.50, Lecture: Human Hubris and Mother Nature in Global
Breakthrough Hits from Jaws to Jurassic Park and Avatar
Small Group Exercise: comparison of the posters and/or trailers for Jaws, Star Wars,
Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. (with a particular focus on audience
address)
Reading: Peter Krämer, “Hollywood and Its Global Audiences: A Comparative
Study of the Biggest Box Office Hits in the United States and Outside the United
States Since the 1970s”, Explorations in New Cinema History: Approaches and Case
Studies, ed. Richard Maltby, Daniel Biltereyst and Philippe Meers, Oxford: WileyBlackwell,
2011, pp. 171-84; ideally this text should be read after the lecture and before
the screening of Gravity
Session 4
Reading: Peter Krämer, “‘The Girl on Fire’: Children’s Fiction, Female Stars and
Contemporary Hollywood Blockbusters” (Part 1), Women’s Film and Television
History Network (UK/Ireland) blog, 12 February 2016,
https://womensfilmandtelevisionhistory.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/the-girl-on-firechildrens-fiction-female-stars-and-contemporary-hollywood-blockbusters/,
(Part 2),
Women’s Film and Television History Network (UK/Ireland) blog, 19 February 2016,
https://womensfilmandtelevisionhistory.wordpress.com/2016/02/19/the-girl-on-firepart-ii/;
ideally these short texts should be read before the screening of Gravity
29 September, 8-10, Screening with a brief introduction and a discussion
afterwards: Gravity (2013, 90 min)
29 September, 10.15-11.45, Lecture: Sandra Bullock, Gravity and Women in Science
Fiction Blockbusters
Small Group Exercise: analysis of the poster and trailer for Gravity
Session 5
Reading: Peter Krämer, “From 2001: A Space Odyssey to Avatar: Reflections on
Cultural Impact and Academic Research”, Screening the Past, no. 42 (October 2017),
http://www.screeningthepast.com/2017/09/from-2001-space-odyssey-to-avatarreflections-on-cultural-impact-and-academic-research/;
ideally this text should be
read after the previous lecture and before the screening of Avatar
29 September, 16-19, Screening with a brief discussion afterwards: Avatar (2009, 160
min)
29 September, 19.15-20.45, Lecture: James Cameron, Avatar and the End of the
World in Hollywood Blockbusters
Small Group Exercise: comparison of the Avatar treatment, script and film
Session 6
Reading: Peter Krämer, “'The Walt Disney Company, Family Entertainment, and
Hollywood’s Global Hits”, The Oxford Handbook of Children’s Films, ed. Noel Brown,
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022, pp. 569-90; ideally this text should be read
after the previous lecture and before the screening of Interstellar
30 September, 9-12.30, Screening with a brief discussion afterwards: Interstellar
(2014, 170 min)
30 September, 13-14.30, Lecture: Christopher Nolan and Interstellar
Small Group Exercise: tbc
If there is sufficient interest, there will also be a seminar on how to do research in
this area after the final lecture. Here students may ask the tutor about his research
but can also talk about projects that they are working on themselves.