Genres have long been used to classify works of literature, theater, painting, music, and other arts. Primary functions of genre include providing models for producing other work, directing audience expectations, and creating categories for evaluating a work.

Since the beginning of film history, the importance of genre and the popularity of specific genres have waxed and waned depending on the historical period and culture.

In the 1920s and 1930s genre became a primary method of organization for the Hollywood studio system to efficiently produce, distribute, and market films for a mass audience. Although the Hollywood studios differed in size, strategies, and styles, each used a production system based on the efficient recycling of formulas and conventions, stars, and sets.

The Paramount Supreme Court decision of 1948 helped bring an end to the classical era of the Hollywood studio system and its industrial practices. Without control of a distribution network of theaters to ensure the profitability of its production decisions, the studio system gradually began its decline and with it waned the golden years of American film genres.

The 1970s brought forth the era known as New Hollywood, with film-school-educated directors drawing on established genres, special effects, and large advertising budgets to create blockbusters. Video and foreign sales helped such movies generate worldwide popularity, and the new corporate entities that owned the studios relied heavily on sequels and franchises.