tent pole
n.— «A studio like Fox usually works on dozens of DVD’s at a time—from minor television shows to $100 million-plus “tent poles” meant to draw everyone in and that entail a marketing blitz mapped out long beforehand.» —“Box Office in a Box” by Jon Gertner New York Times Nov. 14, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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What a cool resource this is! My biography of Truk Lagoon’s Kimiuo Aisek is coming out soon, and Titanic co-producer Al Giddings is writing the foreword (correct, not forward!). He buzzed me to send him my thoughts on ‘tent-pole events’ to be included in what he writes. I never worked for Fox Studios. I’m just a scuba diver! I taught college writing for 18 years, love words, but had never heard this term. Had to Google rather than embarrass myself in the eyes of “Super Shooter” Al Giddings — the name Kimiuo Aisek gave him after Al named Kimiuo “Big Shooter!”