Idiom suggestions for 'made an impact'

Solution 1:

You can use the idiomatic expression,

leave (one's) mark:

To do something that will be remembered or that makes one famous or successful; to do something that is very important or meaningful.

• The actress first left her mark with her incredible performance as Lady Macbeth on Broadway.

(The Free Dictionary)

So you could say:

• Franco Zeffirelli left his mark on the movie industry following his release of 'Romeo and Juliet'

Solution 2:

For a very large impact, a paradigm shift, the term quantum shift would be appropriate.

• With his movie 'Romeo and Juliet', Franco Zeffirelli brought about a quantum shift in the world of film.

Collins Cobuild defines the related terms quantum leap / quantum jump:

A quantum leap or quantum jump in something is a very great and sudden increase in its size, amount, or quality.

• The vaccine represents a quantum leap in healthcare.

An example from ReversoContext is

The revolution in digital technology has brought about a quantum shift in the way we communicate with one another.