Steven Spielberg’s 1975 cult-classic film Jaws remains one of the greatest films of all time and is considered the definitive shark film by many, but fans would be shocked to know that he was not originally the director attached to the project. Indeed, it would be difficult to imagine another filmmaker stepping into the boat.
How the famed filmmaker got the gig was quite an interesting one. Although he was not the first choice, he made the film his own even though it cost him so much mental and emotional stress.
Steven Spielberg Was Not The First Choice To Direct Jaws
In an interview for Laurent Bouzereau’s book Spielberg: The First Ten Years via Vanity Fair, director Steven Spielberg revealed how he snagged the project that was already in the hands of another creative.
“That was that, until I got a call from Dick asking me to come meet with him and David. They sat me down and announced, ‘We want you to direct Jaws.’ I said, ‘Whatever happened to the director?’ ”
Spielberg actually approached producers David Brown and Richard Zanuck and volunteered himself to helm Jaws, but they already had another captain on the wheel. In a surprising turn of events, fate agreed with Spielberg, and he sealed the deal.
“They explained, ‘We had the meeting with him, but he kept referring to the shark in front of Peter Benchley as ‘the white whale.’ And Peter became very disinterested in having his shark called a whale.’ And that’s how the project finally came to me.”
Many would think this was a hilarious way to land a job that one has been dreaming of, but it’s another way of destiny telling Spielberg that Jaws was truly made for him – and that’s exactly what happened.
With a meager production budget of $9 million, Jaws successfully emerged with a whopping $477 million at the worldwide box office. The star-studded cast included Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, and Murray Hamilton.
Steven Spielberg Was Left Traumatized After Filming Jaws
Although Jaws ended up becoming a blockbuster hit and warranted a sequel, Spielberg did not return to helm the second installment due to post-traumatic stress disorder. He was so traumatized that he avoided going near any body of water. In an interview via Express, he confessed:
“[I didn’t come back for the Jaws sequels] because making the first movie was a nightmare. There were endless problems with the shark, and it was an impossible shoot. I thought my career was over because no one had ever taken a movie 100 days over schedule.”
A few years later, the veteran director claimed he would have done the sequel had he not had a very horrible experience filming in the middle of the sea. Still, he was grateful to have been given the opportunity to helm Jaws because it cemented his name as one of the breakthrough filmmakers of that decade.
Jaws is available to stream via Netflix and Prime Video.
