The blockbuster was born in 1975. While "The Exorcist" was among the top five grossing films of the 1970s, the first film given the blockbuster distinction was 1975's "Jaws". Released on June 20, the film about a series of horrific deaths related to a massive great white shark was director Steven Spielberg's first big-budget Hollywood production, coming in at $9 million in cost. The film slowly grew in ticket sales and became one of the most profitable films of its time, ending with a $260 million gross in the United States alone. The film won Academy Awards for its skillful editing, chilling score, and sound recording. It was also nominated for Best Picture that year, though it lost to Miloš Forman's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (which also won acting awards for Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher). It spawned the successful sequel, "Jaws 2" in 1978, which featured the same cast, but without Steven Spielberg. Another tailor-made blockbuster, Dino De Laurentiis' "King Kong" was released, but to less than stellar success. "King Kong" did mark the first time a film was booked to theaters before a release date, a common practice today.