The case for blockbusters
They are the perennial complaints of pop-culture connoisseurs: Why are so many Hollywood movies lowest-common-denominator mash-ups of comic book heroes and pricey special effects? Why do radio stations only play the “top” 40 songs, half of which seem to involve Taylor Swift or Jay-Z? And why do some European soccer clubs such as Manchester United and Real Madrid tend to dominate year after year? The answer, says Harvard Business School (HBS) Professor Anita Elberse, is a strategy by successful executives across the entertainment world to place high-stakes bets on a handful of high-priced projects with top-tier talent — the blockbusters — rather than distributing resources over an array of lower-cost vehicles. The “idea of taking this huge risk is actually the best way to go and, in fact, is the safest approach,” Elberse, the Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration, said in a recent interview. “For many people, this is counterintuitive. They...