Replay Culture

The idea of a 'replay culture' revolves around the ability to be able to watch a film after its initial release. A film that might have flopped at the box-office can be revived and garner a following through various forms of media including television, the internet and DVDs.

In the case of The Big Lebowski, it was a box-office failure, however soon gained a cult following when it went into circulation on the home video market. As this was a time when the home video market and video rentals were still important platforms for watching films, this suggests that The Big Lebowski.

Since The Big Lebowski was a financial and critical failure at the time of its initial release, the fact that it has a cult following can suggest that its fans seem 'genuine' as this was not a popular film and therefore it can be assumed that these fans didn't watch this film due to popular opinion.

 

 

The Big Lebowski had a studio re-release on Blu-Ray, which suggests that the studio had enough faith in the following to do so. Furthermore, since it was a limited edition release and therefore copies wouldn't be in great supply, this would have been a great way for fans to prove their loyalty as they would have to actively look for a copy.