Quite A Large Bite: The Tremendous Success and Influence of Jaws
With Jaws going nearly three times over schedule, two times over budget, and having a variety of technical issues, director Steven Spielberg expected to be fired any day as he sat in fear on a beach in Martha’s Vineyard. The studio didn’t have much hope either and expected Jaws to bomb dramatically at the box office. Surprisingly to both the crew and the studio, the film grossed $470 million on a budget of $7 million making it one of the most financially successful films of that time. Jaws’ success didn’t stop there: the film had tremendous cultural staying power and majorly changed the film industry. Culturally, the release of Jaws caused a new phobia of shark attacks that resulted in decreased beach attendance in the summer of 1975. Today, over forty years since its release, there is still a mass hysteria surrounding shark attacks and a demonization of the Great White shark. In terms of business, Jaws started the wide release model, intense merchandising effort, “event”-style release, and the popularization of the big-budget, high concept film. In many ways, Jaws seemed to be one of a kind, representing a popular big-budget movie that went against conventions. Jaws impacted the film industry and the general public drastically with a cultural, business, and historical shift, for the film is credited in creating the modern summer blockbuster.
It is endlessly impressive that Jaws was not only a huge success in 1975, but also one of the most influential films of all time. Everyone involved, including the producers, expected the film to lose the studio a huge quantity of money. At the center of the film’s success was its unconventional, complex story. On paper, Jaws reads as a simple tale of a blood-thirsty shark devouring humans. In actuality, the film is multifaceted and features many themes that lurk below the surface. Ian Hunter, a convener at a conference about Jaws, claimed that the many interpretations of Jaws are what lead to its success: “It can be about Watergate, or the bomb, or masculinity, or whatever” (Kermode). There are certainly plenty of subplots within the film, each with a supposed metaphor.
Instead of always focusing on the shark and being overloaded with action scenes, the audience is forced to focus on Jaws’ well-constructed human characters and all their issues. In his “Mystery Box” Ted Talk speech, producer-director J.J. Abrams talks about the importance of the investment in character. During the speech, Abrams plays a poignant scene from Jaws, one where the protagonist Martin Brody’s defeated gestures are copied by his young son. Abrams explains that the audience really expects the violent action scenes when they think of Jaws, but the emotional human moments are what keep moviegoers invested (The Mystery Box). Considering the current state of studio filmmaking, it’s astonishing how little the shark appears in the film, especially in the first half which takes place primarily on land. Part of the reason for the absence is the infamous malfunctions of the mechanical sharks that were made for the film. As a solution to the destructive nature of the mechanical sharks, Spielberg decided to utilize point-of-view shots from the shark’s perspective or convey the location of the shark by using buoys that are harpooned into the shark later in the film. Spielberg turned technical issues into storytelling strategies, enhancing the film and contributing to the uniqueness of Jaws. Spielberg said that, “Had the shark been working, perhaps the film would have made half the money and been half as scary” (Kermode). The visual innovations, well-rounded characters, and multi-dimensional subplots of Jaws helped to make the film so legendary and engage moviegoers for almost half a century.
Jaws’ genius business strategy and distribution model is another factor that led to its significance in popular culture. Film historian Thomas Schatz said that Jaws, “Recalibrated the profit potential of the Hollywood hit and redefined its status as a marketable commodity and cultural phenomenon as well” (Kermode). Jaws has acquired an almost mythic status for “creating the summer blockbuster.” Before Jaws, summer was a dull season for filmgoing with few notable releases. If it was nice out, why bother going to watch a film indoors? Jaws’ rare summer release was a calculated maneuver according to the film’s producer David Brown: “[Jaws was] deliberately delayed until people were in the water off the summer beach resorts” (Pratt). Due to the increasing number of multiplex movie theaters in the country, younger audiences also contributed to the popularity of the summer filmmaking explosion. While some might cite other blockbusters as the instigator for the new format, Jaws undoubtedly changed the timeline of film. “The summer blockbuster was born on 20 June 1975, when Jaws opened wide. In the years after Jaws, the entire release calendar changed,” claimed Financial Times writer Nigel Andrews.
A large part of Jaws’ blockbuster status came from the extreme marketing, a front-loading strategy in which a film became an “event.” Jaws screenwriter Carl Gottlieb claimed that, “[The] notion of selling a picture as an event, as a phenomenon, as a destination, was born with that release” (Kermode). Before Jaws, renting out television advertisements to promote films was virtually unheard of. Instead of television advertisements, and now the internet, most film advertisements were found in newspapers or other paper media. Universal spent an unheard of $700,000 for advertisements on prime-time television to get people excited about Jaws. Universal’s publicity director Clark Ramsey said that, “We attempted to buy 30-second commercials on every primetime show on June 18, 19 and 20, the three days leading to the release. We got 85 percent of what we were looking for in primetime spots with local buys.” (“How ‘Massive’ Promotion…”). Thus, by buying out television spots for 30 second trailers, a new filmmaking marketing strategy was born. In the modern day, if someone turned on the television for several hours, chances are they would see many film trailers promoting their product. In addition to the $700,000 spent on television advertisements, the rest of the $2 million advertising budget funded promotional tie-ins and merchandise. Jaws had its own t-shirts, posters, lunchboxes, toys, and even a promotional ice cream tie-in. Nowadays, that magnitude of film-related products is less than shocking, but it set a precedent for the time. Jaws paraphernalia was just the beginning, with Star Wars taking film merchandising to a new level two years later in 1977. In the modern day, blockbuster films have virtually a second industry with the mass selling of action figures, dolls, and other film-inspired merchandise. As a kid, I saw this influence firsthand with all of the movie-inspired Happy Meals and superhero action figures around my friends’ houses. All of this is due to Jaws. Universal’s publicity director Clark Ramsey said that the money spent on Jaws’ pre-release advertising was, “The largest expenditure on advertising of a release in the history of the company” (“How ‘Massive’ Promotion…”). In retrospect, Jaws’ astronomical experimental advertising and marketing represented a shift in film history, with many lasting impacts today.
Growing up, my family members often discouraged me from first seeing Jaws because it would, “Make me never go near an ocean again.” Shockingly, Jaws had this effect on many moviegoers in 1975. “Lifeguards were falling asleep at their stations,” recalled Jaws producer Richard Zanuck, “because nobody was going in the water; they were on the beach reading their book” (Kermode). Prior to Jaws’ release, sharks were barely known or researched. After the film exploded in popularity, there was much fear, hate, and intrigue towards this newly-popular species. In her 2012 essay Before and After “Jaws”..., historian Beryl Francis explores the impact of Jaws on shark populations: “The idea of marauding sharks became entrenched in the psyche of bathers around the world, creating a fear that the media exploited.” Soon after the film’s release, shark hunting became a popular hobby across America with many shark fishing tournaments emerging quickly. Jaws, a portrayal of one murderous shark, began to convince America and, as a result, the rest of the world that sharks were killers that needed to be dealt with.
Indirectly, Jaws caused a worldwide massacre of sharks, which only gets more dire with time. A 2013 Marine Policy study estimated that 100 million sharks are killed every year, with a possible range between 63 million and 273 million. Reportedly, 30 percent of shark species are deemed to be at least “threatened,” with many facing possible extinction. The study also warns that the speed at which sharks are being hunted exceeds their ability to recover, creating a very serious issue for the future of sharks (“New Study Says…”). If anyone ever tries to debate that film is not powerful, show them what Jaws did to sharks and they will be astounded. On the other hand, the release of Jaws led to the widespread research of sharks. Once mysterious animals, the shark is now researched deeply. Specific scientific fields became popular, such as the shark biologist. Just as interest peaked for shark hunting and research, Jaws also created a major cultural boom for shark-related media content. Even today, there are still films like The Meg and shows like Shark Week that portray sharks as blood-thirsty monsters.
The last major way in which Jaws changed the future of cinema is through its main star, director Steven Spielberg. Before June 20, 1975, Steven Spielberg was an unknown with two fairly successful films to his name and a long history of television directing experience. After the release of Jaws, Spielberg became an overnight success and thus began his long, successful career of blockbuster and dramatic filmmaking. After Jaws became the highest-grossing film ever at the time and won three Oscars, Spielberg gained complete creative control to make whatever he wanted. He went on to make some of the most critically and financially successful films of all time, including E.T., Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Moreover, Spielberg is a key producer of many blockbusters such as Back to the Future and the Transformer movies. He also founded Amblin Entertainment and the revolutionary Dreamworks Animation. Spielberg not only birthed the modern blockbuster, but he has also nurtured it for decades through his directorial work and producing endeavors.
Jaws, the original blockbuster,changed the film industry with noticeable effects that can still be seen today. The modern film market is oversaturated with summer blockbusters, a business model created by Jaws’ success. Nowadays, blockbusters are the big thing, with franchises and large-budgeted films that grow in number each Friday. Additionally, Jaws changed the way films were marketed and promoted, by pushing enticing television commercials and appealing merchandise. Nowadays, almost every kid has a toy or t-shirt of their favorite movie character. The fear and fascination toward the newly-popular shark species is perhaps the most global influence of Jaws. In the modern day, sharks across the world face large-scale hunting and endangerment issues. Lastly, Jaws turned its director, Steven Spielberg, into a big name who has kept pushing for the blockbuster through his directing and producing efforts. Today, Spielberg has directed 32 films, with more on the way, and has become the first director to have his films gross over $10 billion. In terms of then and now, Jaws still reigns supreme. With a strange turn of Hollywood events, Jaws, a film that was seemingly destined for failure, became one of the most significant, influential films of all time. Famous screenwriter William Goldman once said, “Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what's going to work. Every time out it's a guess and, if you're lucky, an educated one.” Jaws is a prime example of the unknowingness of the film industry; it is a film that has become a legend.
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