I was thinking about this. Short answer: not soon. The thing about 70's moviemaking is that it was awful. Star Wars invigorated the movies again. It changed things. Harry Potter never came close. - Michael Gaines

The Matrix? - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins

@Rizzn - interesting choice... but the Matrix trilogy seemed to fizzle a bit after the first movie (OK, maybe that's a better comparison than I thought...) - Mark Dykeman

If you are looking for another sci-fi hit, probably not for a while. Hollywood can't seem to get it right very often...and the chances are further lowered by the fact that they rarely make sci-fi movies anymore. The closest they come these days are the comic book movies... - Alex Scoble

Cohort replacement is a beautiful thing. Each generation has their own special moments in film. We will certainly witness more epic and game changing film making. One example is the light jump we have recently seen in animation, the most popular work being done by Pixar, Disney, etc. The best is yet to come. FYI, I recall being begged by 20th to present a Star Wars premiere in Chicago. We did the "space western" premiere, cast with unknowns in trade for the premiere of two hit movies to be named later. - Dave Martin

Plus the way that they cram "blockbusters" into just about every week in the summer season pretty much prevents the sort of experience that Star Wars was. - Alex Scoble

A few other points: movies lasted longer back then. Some theaters showed Star Wars for a YEAR. My local theater played it almost that long. The movie came out in May and I saw it for my birthday in October. That doesn't happen anymore. Also, SW has lasted 30 years. Potter hasn't. Nothing has the rabid fanbase after so many decades. Name any popular movie in the last 10 years and already you can't compare it to Star Wars. - Michael Gaines

@Michael. The economic model of the movie game changed. There were no multiple release windows in the contracts (e.g., second run, cable, video release). btw, the biggest release to date would be Gone With The Wind, the 1939 release is still selling, still featured world-wide at film festivals and holds the record for gross sales far above the combined SW collection. - Dave Martin

@Michael Gains - actually, I remember Home Alone played in theatres for something like nine months. The aftermarket for video (dvd, online, tv) has killed long runs, though, especially since DVD sales are genarally more profitable. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins

Continuing the discussion at my blog: http://broadcasting-brain.com/2008... - Mark Dykeman