The Hollywood concept of a large-scale “event” or “tentpole” movie is not a recent one. Film studios have had a long (and mostly profitable) love affair with expensive, highly-produced, and relentlessly hyped blockbusters, as demonstrated by the scope and variety of silent screen epics. The faces and technologies change but the conventions remain much the same, and the fondness for cinematic spectacle by studios and audiences alike continues unabated to this day.
