TY - JOUR AU - Verevis, Constantine PY - 2013/12/02 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Blockbuster Remakes JF - Academic Quarter | Akademisk kvarter JA - AcademicQuarter VL - 0 IS - 7 SE - DO - 10.5278/ojs.academicquarter.v0i7.2835 UR - https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/ak/article/view/2835 SP - 263-282 AB - <p class="p1">Like the term “blockbuster,” the phrase “blockbuster remake” can mean different things. Typically, blockbuster remake is an industrial term, one that refers to the production of large-scale movies adapted from previously filmed properties. In this definition, modest (cult) properties – such as, <em>Planet of the Apes </em>(1968, 2001), <em>King Kong </em>(1933, 1976, 2005), and <em>War of the Worlds </em>(1954, 2005) – are revived through massive production budgets as cultural juggernauts, with strong marketing campaigns and merchandising tie-ins. Less typical is a description that accounts for the way in which a blockbuster movie is <em>itself </em>remade: that is, a definition in which a blockbuster becomes the cornerstone for the entire architecture of a <em>blockbuster cycle</em>. This article explores the idea of a blockbuster remake, and blockbuster initiated cycle, in and through a case study of the prototype of all modern blockbusters: Steven Spielberg’s <em>Jaws </em>(1975). Specifically, the article interrogates the way in which “Bruce,” the great white shark of <em>Jaws</em>, initiated a rogue animal cycle consisting in the first instance of the Jaws franchise – <em>Jaws 2 </em>(1978), <em>Jaws 3-D </em>(1983) and <em>Jaws 4: The Revenge </em>(1987) – and also a series of replicas that included <em>Grizzly </em>(1976), <em>Orca </em>(1977), and <em>Piranha </em>(1978).</p> ER -