Mockbuster

//ˈmɒkˌbʌstəɹ// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A relatively low-budget film given a similar theme and title to a popular blockbuster in an attempt to piggyback on its success. informal

    "Whereas the Asylum had a well-defined audience as a horror-movie company, the mockbuster strategy aims at a broader and shallower demographic: some viewers have seen the real blockbuster and want more of the same thing, no matter how lo-fi; some are genre geeks, interested in low-budget adventure and sci-fi films; others rent the movie thinking it is something else (Web sites are rife with the scornful entries of duped film fans)."

Example

More examples

"Whereas the Asylum had a well-defined audience as a horror-movie company, the mockbuster strategy aims at a broader and shallower demographic: some viewers have seen the real blockbuster and want more of the same thing, no matter how lo-fi; some are genre geeks, interested in low-budget adventure and sci-fi films; others rent the movie thinking it is something else (Web sites are rife with the scornful entries of duped film fans)."

Etymology

Blend of mock + blockbuster.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.