Steven Spielberg became a household name with his 1975 film, Jaws. While the film remains on top of many people’s favorite list of Spielberg movies, the director himself didn’t have high hopes for this horror thriller. Spielberg initially regarded the shark in the film as dumb and believed that no one would be interested in watching the film. However, the audience’s response to the film defied his expectations.
Based on the novel of the same name by Peter Benchley, the movie was conceptualized even before the release of the novel. Spielberg was drawn to Benchley’s novel despite his reservations regarding the killer shark concept.
Steven Spielberg Never Imagined Jaws To Become A Huge Success
Steven Spielberg was the third choice of director after the producers initially tried to bring on the legendary John Sturges and later almost offered the job to Dick Richards. However, the Jurassic Park director eventually grabbed the director’s role and made it one of his memorable films. Spielberg hadn’t released his first theatrical film The Sugarland Express when he was offered the Jaws job
The Fabelmans director almost considered quitting before filming even began as he was concerned about being typecast as the “truck and shark director”, also referring to his earlier television film, Duel. Around the time, he also got invited to direct Lucky Lady and was inclined to move over to that project. However, Universal Studios prevented him from leaving, citing his contract agreement. David Brown, the producer, also convinced him to stay.
During an interview with W Magazine in early 2023, Spielberg revealed that he genuinely believed the movie would flop and turn out to be one of his worst movies. He was almost convinced that audiences would have little interest in the movie, but he was spectacularly proven wrong. The E.T. director shared with W Magazine:
“I never would have guessed that so many people would have gone to see Jaws. In my mind, the shark looked dumb. When I went to the first preview, in Dallas, and people were screaming and popcorn was flying at the screen, my first feeling was—Oh my god! I didn’t think any of this was going to work. The truth is, you never ever know.”
Jaws is the only movie in the horror genre in the director’s impeccable portfolio. While the movie spawned three sequels, none of them were directed by Spielberg and none managed to replicate the success of the original film.
Steven Spielberg Made Crucial Changes To Peter Benchley’s Novel
While it was Benchley’s novel that initially attracted Spielberg, he was not completely satisfied with the script. The Schindler’s List director removed many of the novel’s subplots and wanted the film to primarily focus on the final shark hunt part of the story. However, Spielberg believed that Benchley’s characters were unlikeable.
The director and the producers tried to bring in a screenwriter to do a rewrite. Howard Sackler agreed to do an uncredited rewrite which added certain traits to some of the characters. Spielberg still deemed the script too dark and sent it to his friend, Carl Gottlieb, for suggestions. Gottlieb did the final reworking of the script and also agreed to play a role in the film. Gottlieb is credited as a co-writer of the screenplay of the film.
Despite Spielberg’s initial skepticism, Jaws became a colossal success grossing $476.5 million at the box office. Jaws is now available for streaming on Netflix.
