The Making of Jaws: A Deep Dive into the Movie’s Secrets

The film was based on the 1974 suspense novel by journalist Peter Benchley, who made a brief cameo in the movie as a news reporter. Despite the success of the book and the film, Benchley said he came to regret writing such a sensational story about sharks. He thought his words encouraged excessive fear of the animals, and before his death in 2006, he became a vocal advocate for marine conservation.

Filmed on location on the island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, Jaws was the first major feature to have scenes shot in the ocean – which took it well over its $3.5 million budget to cost the studio a stunning $8 million. But all those extra clams weren’t such a bad deal in the end – the movie’s total box-office take was more than $470 million!

Director Steven Spielberg had nicknamed the movie’s three mechanical sharks Bruce – after his lawyer, Bruce Ramer – but when they kept breaking down, some disgruntled crew members began calling the film Flaws. Adding to the production’s money woes, the busted beasts cost $250,000 each.

Due to the repeated failure of the robot sharks, Spielberg cut back on the shark screen time and instead used John Williams’ ominous music to cue the impending arrival of the fierce man-eater. In fact, the shark isn’t seen fully until one hour and 21 minutes into the two-hour movie.