This Steven Spielberg Horror Classic Was Supposed To Be A Disaster, But Became A $490 Million Hit

Steven Spielberg’s Jaws was widely expected to be a disaster. However, it turned out to gross $490.7 million worldwide across all releases, as per Box Office Mojo, on a reported $7 million budget. The 50th-anniversary re-release added $16 million, pushing the total past $490 million.

Inside The Troubled Production Of Jaws 

People are unaware that the shoot nearly sank the film. It was the first major movie shot in open water, off Martha’s Vineyard. The director ran way over budget and behind schedule, with boats drifting into frame and bad weather shutting down filming. The mechanical shark, nicknamed Bruce after Spielberg’s lawyer, had been built for freshwater by mistake, and as a result, it kept breaking down or sinking. Unfortunately, the planned 55-day schedule stretched to 155 days. 

According to reports, Star Richard Dreyfuss described the mess like this: “We started the film without a script, without a cast and without a shark.” Spielberg has since said, “I almost got fired probably 19 times,” as per Looper. 

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The problems pushed him in a new direction. With the shark so unreliable, Steven Spielberg leaned on Alfred Hitchcock’s advice to show less, and he later called the broken shark “a godsend.” The film won three Oscars for editing by Verna Fields, sound, and score.

How Jaws Created The Summer Blockbuster & Changed Hollywood 

Universal then took an unusual gamble. Instead of the slow rollout from a few theaters that studios normally used, the film opened wide. It broke the opening-weekend record with $7 million and became the first film to pass $100 million at the US box office. 

The effects on Hollywood were huge. Before Jaws, opening a film in midsummer was seen as box office suicide. The film paved the way for the big, front-loaded blockbuster backed by a massive advertising campaign. Two years later, Star Wars beat its box office record.

Early on, Steven Spielberg worried the film would become the “laugh riot of ‘75.” Instead, the trouble that nearly ended his career shaped his reputation. He has said no later shoot has come close to the difficulty of Jaws. Still, after so many decades, the numbers still hold up. Adjusted for inflation, the film’s worldwide gross is estimated at about $2.1 billion. 

Jaws Trailer

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