Film students, business majors, movie fans, industry insiders, and all those who appreciate human ingenuity will be fascinated and inspired by George Lucas' Blockbusting - a comprehensive look at how 300 of the most successful motion pictures of all time were made and financed despite seemingly insurmountable economic, cultural, and political challenges. Even in the face of war, the Great Depression, blacklisting, and more, every era has enjoyed movie blockbusters. Included here are sure-fire successes, complete surprises, movies made on scant budgets, others that were leveraged to the hilt, films celebrated upon release that have since lost their glow, those that have become more popular with time, and a few that remain inexplicably unheralded by the awards community today. In its detailed examination of each film's costs and revenues as well as each era's prevailing production, distribution, exhibition, marketing, and technology trends, this book provides a truly unique perspective of the movie-making business. Filled with essays, charts, and graphs drawn from diverse sources - not the least of which is the exhaustive Lucasfilm library - it ultimately presents the compelling story of the medium's evolution, from inception through its continuing reinventions. No true movie lover should be without it.