Jaws (film)

Jaws is a 1975 American <a href="/facts/Thriller_film/RLj4941a">thriller film</a> directed by <a href="/facts/Steven_Spielberg/KeqLPKoS">Steven Spielberg</a>. Based on <a href="/facts/Jaws_(novel)/7F878014">the 1974 novel</a> by <a href="/facts/Peter_Benchley/AvkTwjRG">Peter Benchley</a>, it stars <a href="/facts/Roy_Scheider/wFNWTE0f">Roy Scheider</a> as police chief Martin Brody, who, with the help of a marine biologist (<a href="/facts/Richard_Dreyfuss/DTF02lHp">Richard Dreyfuss</a>) and a professional shark hunter (<a href="/facts/Robert_Shaw_(actor)/v8Ga9cBF">Robert Shaw</a>), hunts a man-eating <a href="/facts/Great_white_shark/9uLc7Adh">great white shark</a> that attacks beachgoers at a New England summer resort town. <a href="/facts/Murray_Hamilton/znIaVtgU">Murray Hamilton</a> plays the mayor, and <a href="/facts/Lorraine_Gary/9HCJ552x">Lorraine Gary</a> portrays Brody's wife. The screenplay is credited to Benchley, who wrote the first drafts, and actor-writer <a href="/facts/Carl_Gottlieb/rrtjmAEk">Carl Gottlieb</a>, who rewrote the script during <a href="/facts/Principal_photography/QuWTt1Wf">principal photography</a>.
Shot mostly on location at <a href="/facts/Martha%2527s_Vineyard/xGt6P3X2">Martha's Vineyard</a> in <a href="/facts/Massachusetts/9uumCbFI">Massachusetts</a> from May to October 1974, Jaws was the first major motion picture to be shot on the ocean and consequently had a troubled production, going over budget and schedule. As the art department's mechanical sharks often malfunctioned, Spielberg decided to mostly suggest the shark's presence, employing an ominous and minimalist theme created by composer <a href="/facts/John_Williams/AMLQKr5J">John Williams</a> to indicate its impending appearances. Spielberg and others have compared this suggestive approach to that of director <a href="/facts/Alfred_Hitchcock/LqkmpImQ">Alfred Hitchcock</a>. <a href="/facts/Universal_Pictures/2xUCraUP">Universal Pictures</a> released the film to over 450 screens, an exceptionally wide release for a major studio picture at the time, accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign with heavy emphasis on television spots and tie-in merchandise.
Regarded as a watershed moment in <a href="/facts/History_of_film/Jb0yDMVC">motion picture history</a>, Jaws was the prototypical summer <a href="/facts/Blockbuster_(entertainment)/9hsjgCfK">blockbuster</a> and won several awards for its music and editing. It was the <a href="/facts/List_of_highest-grossing_films/64Qtvz8F">highest-grossing film in history</a> until the release of <a href="/facts/Star_Wars_(film)/J4eECtTN">Star Wars</a> two years later; both films were pivotal in establishing the modern Hollywood business model, which pursues high box-office returns from action and adventure films with simple <a href="/facts/High_concept/JwjC8IGR">high-concept</a> premises, released during the summer in thousands of theaters and advertised heavily. Jaws was followed by <a href="/facts/Jaws_(franchise)/PeLJB1fP">three sequels</a>, none of which involved Spielberg or Benchley, as well as many imitative thrillers. In 2001, the <a href="/facts/Library_of_Congress/TfB6dEN5">Library of Congress</a> selected it for preservation in the United States <a href="/facts/National_Film_Registry/HGoP1Mre">National Film Registry</a>.

Jaws (film) open-in-new

Jaws (film)