Steven Spielberg is one of the most celebrated filmmakers in Hollywood. He is the man behind iconic films such as Jurassic Park, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and more. He won two Oscars for Best Director for helming the holocaust film Schindler’s List and the World War II drama Saving Private Ryan.
Spielberg had his breakthrough with the survival horror film Jaws. The film became the highest-grossing movie of all time in 1975 and was the first Summer blockbuster. Spielberg became one of the most sought-after filmmakers after the success of the film. However, he was almost fired from the project due to many issues and was saved by a guardian angel.
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws Was Famously Over Budget And Had Many Issues
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is often credited to be the first Summer blockbuster and started the trend of releasing high-concept action extravaganzas during the Summer. The period until then was reportedly a dry season for the film industry as movies were not the primary source of entertainment for the public at the time.
However, Spielberg’s Jaws changed everything as it surpassed films such as The Godfather and The Exorcist to become the highest-grossing movie of all time and became the first film to gross $100 million at the box office. The film has earned over $476 million throughout its multiple re-releases, making it a highly profitable movie against a budget of $7 million (via Box Office Mojo).
The success of the film definitely puts things in perspective for the makers as the film was notoriously over budget and underwent many technical issues. According to BBC News, Steven Spielberg decided to shoot the film on the ocean instead of a wave tank as he felt that it would look phony and this caused many issues during production.
The mechanical shark that the crew had built for the film reportedly malfunctioned multiple times, with one of the spares even sinking early in the production. On top of that, extreme weather conditions and lack of time led to a long schedule of over 100 days of shooting (via BBC News). However, all seemed to work out for Spielberg once it was released.
Steven Spielberg Was Almost Fired From Jaws
With Jaws, Steven Spielberg established himself as a maverick filmmaker who was here to stay. The director had only helmed a few TV films and one feature film, The Sugarland Express, before he took on Jaws. In fact, he reportedly initially rejected the job as it felt like a B-movie at the time but was convinced by producer David Brown (via BBC News).
However, after choosing to shoot on the ocean and dealing with extreme weather conditions and malfunctioning sharks, Spielberg was over budget. He was apparently so close to being fired by the producers as they were constantly in touch with him hinting at the possibility. But, Spielberg credited his survival to his guardian angel, mentor, and Universal Studios’ executive Sidney Sheinberg.
Talking about the threat to his job and Sheinberg’s involvement in it, Steven Spielberg told EW,
Sid Sheinberg always blocked it. Dick Zanuck and David Brown always told me that the other shoe was about to drop. They didn’t warn me to threaten me or to intimidate me — they just said, ”Is there anything you can do with the script, with the schedule, to avert a shutdown?”
And I didn’t have anything to do, because I couldn’t cut the script. I couldn’t cut the third act out of Jaws! I had to just keep moving forward, and the schedule was dictated by the mechanical shark and by the weather conditions. Every time there was an intention to replace me, Sid stepped in quietly behind the scenes and stopped it.
Sheinberg reportedly discovered the maverick filmmaker after seeing his short film Amblin and offered him a job at Universal Television, paving his way to become the star director he is today. Together, the two reportedly collaborated on films such as Jurassic Park and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.
Jaws is available to stream on the Starz channel on Apple TV.
