Global Courant
On this day in history, June 20, 1975, the movie “Jaws,” directed by Steven Spielberg, premiered in theaters across the United States.
“Jaws” tells the fictional story of a great white shark that terrorizes a beach town in New England. The movie was a blockbuster and the highest-grossing movie in movie history until it was surpassed by 1977’s “Star Wars,” according to History.com.
The iconic film, which according to Slashfilms.com made people think twice about entering the water, won three Oscars, for best film editing, best original score and best sound.
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The film was a breakthrough in the career of director Spielberg, then 27 years old. It spawned several sequels, History.com notes.
Actor Roy Scheider played police chief Martin Brody, of the fictional beach town of Amity, who becomes involved in a battle against a man-eating shark.
Harpooned many times by a fisherman bent on destruction, a great white shark surfaces in an attempt to destroy a fishing boat in a scene from the 1975 movie “Jaws.” (Universal/Getty Images)
According to Britannica, he’s accompanied by marine biologist Matt Hooper, played by Richard Dreyfuss, and professional shark hunter Quint, played by Robert Shaw.
The film was based on Peter Benchley’s 1973 bestseller of the same name.
Film producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown got a copy of the novel “and were hooked,” says Collider.com.
“They knew it was the makings of a great movie, so they went through their checklist. The story? Good. Can we afford to make it? We can’t afford to make it, so yeah,” continues the site.
Filming, which took place on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, was plagued by delays and technical difficulties.
The producers bought the movie rights for $175,000 before the novel was even released to the public.
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The question they should have asked? Can it gets made,” says Collider.
“Filming, which took place on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, was plagued with delays and technical problems, including faulty mechanical sharks,” said Britannica.
Actors Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss stand next to a giant man-eating great white shark with a hook in it in a scene from the 1975 movie “Jaws.” (Getty Images)
With over 100 shooting days (159 versus the planned 55) and a budget of $12 million—which was 300% more than the original allocation and four times the cost of an average movie in 1975—making the movie was challenging .
Spielberg also made the decision to film on the ocean, “a first for major feature films,” says Collider.
“The theme of the 1975 shark-infested blockbuster ‘Jaws’ is thrilling, terrifying, but above all impressive.”
Features set on the ocean were “usually filmed on set in a large tank or in shallower water,” but never on the ocean itself, that site also says.
“Bad weather, sailboats floating in the picture and soaking wet cameras” caused a lot of delay.
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“One time the orca (the shark-hunting boat) started to sink while the actors were on board,” notes Collider.
The creepy movie soundtrack, composed by John Williams, is part of American pop culture today.
The 1975 “Jaws” movie poster, the year the movie was released. (LMPC via Getty Images)
“Two notes. That’s it. ‘Duuuunnnn duun.” Two notes are all the listener needs to sink the heart into the stomach and break out goosebumps in a cold sweat.
“The theme of the 1975 shark-infested blockbuster ‘Jaws’ is thrilling, terrifying, but above all impressive.”
“Jaws” spawned three sequels, each of which failed to match the success of the original, says Screamrant.com.
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“Despite the widely loved nature of the original movie, the sequels have really colored the franchise,” says that site.
While the second and third films in the franchise were disappointing at best, it was the fourth film, ‘Jaws: The Revenge’, that really went too far, labeled one of the worst films ever made and a final nail in the making. blood struck. the coffin of the franchise.”
Actor Robert Shaw, who played shark hunter Quint, in a scene from ‘Jaws’. (Universal Pictures/Getty Pictures)
Steven Spielberg “truly regrets” that the bloodthirsty depiction of great white sharks in “Jaws” contributed to a sharp decline in the animal population, Smithsonian Magazine said, citing the director from a 2022 interview with the BBC.
“That’s one of the things I’m still afraid of,” the director continued, “not about being eaten by a shark, but that sharks are somehow mad at me because of the food frenzy of crazy anglers who took place after 1975.”
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The legacy of “Jaws” is that it set the precedent for the term “summer blockbuster” according to multiple sources.
“The summer blockbuster was born on June 20, 1975, when ‘Jaws’ opened wide,” wrote Nigel Andrews of the Financial Times.
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He added, “In the years after ‘Jaws’, the whole release calendar changed.”
Erica Lamberg is a contributing reporter for Fox News Digital.
