In a Hollywood Far, Far Away

The birth of the summer blockbuster is usually dated to the monstrously profitable release of Jaws, in 1975, or Star Wars, in 1977, depending on whom you ask. But if you ask Chris Nashawaty—author of The Future Was Now: Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982—a different annus mirabilispredicts today’s superhero era of fan-friendly fantasy. In 1982, a wave of outlandish genre movies crowded Hollywood’s center stage as never before, led by a new box-office champ, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, which weighed in at $359 million.