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==Context== Industry professionals predicted comedy films and upbeat entertainment to dominate theaters in 1980. This was a response to poor morale in a nation suffering through [[Early 1980s recession in the United States#1980|economic recession]], which generally increased theatrical visits as audiences sought escapism and ignored romantic films and depictions of [[Blue-collar worker|blue-collar life]].<ref name="NYTimesMostPopular">{{cite web |last=Harmetz |first=Aljean |author-link=Aljean Harmetz |date=January 19, 1981 |title=What Were 1980's Most Popular Movie? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/19/movies/what-were-1980-s-most-popular-movies.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=March 18, 2021|url-access=limited |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524084619/http://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/19/movies/what-were-1980-s-most-popular-movies.html |archive-date=2015-05-24 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NYTimesTanenPredict">{{cite web|last=Harmetz|first=Aljean |author-link=Aljean Harmetz |title=Hollywood Is Taking Aim At The Funny Bone |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/08/05/archives/hollywood-is-taking-aim-at-the-funny-bone-hollywood-aims-at-the.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 5, 1979 |access-date=March 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316161708/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/08/05/archives/hollywood-is-taking-aim-at-the-funny-bone-hollywood-aims-at-the.html|archive-date=March 16, 2021 |url-status=live|url-access=limited}}</ref> The financial success and low cost of production cost of comedies such as ''[[Blazing Saddles]]'' (1974) and ''[[Animal House]]'' (1978), had further driven demand for comedies; ''[[Airplane!]]'', ''[[The Blues Brothers (film)|The Blues Brothers]]'', ''[[Caddyshack]]'', and ''[[The Jerk]]'', were all scheduled for release that year. The average cost of making films had risen to $6{{nbsp}}million which had reduced the number of films being made for niche audiences. Some studios continued to release a wide variety of films, hoping that few significant successes would compensate for other failures.<ref name="NYTimesTanenPredict"/> A surge of interest in science-fiction following ''Star Wars''{{'}} release had led to many low-budget entries in the genre attempting to profit by association, and big budget entries such as ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]'' and ''[[The Black Hole (1979 film)|The Black Hole]]'', both of which were released in late 1979, just months before ''The Empire Strikes Back''.<ref name="NYTimesKurtz">{{cite web|last=Lewin |first=David |title=Can the Makers of 'Star Wars' Do It Again? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/02/archives/can-the-makers-of-star-wars-do-it-again.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 2, 1979 |access-date=March 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808184319/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/02/archives/can-the-makers-of-star-wars-do-it-again.html |archive-date=August 8, 2020 |url-status=live|url-access=limited}}</ref>
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