The release of the film Jaws, the first in a new genre known as the summer blockbuster film, was seen by many as the real beginning of New Hollywood, a new age filmmaking that turned the typically low-earning summer break into a lucrative time of year.
By Saunak Mookerjee
This movie was considered the inaugural ‘summer blockbuster.’ Soon after its release in 1975, it surpassed the records established by The Sound of Music (1965) and The Godfather (1975), becoming the first film to generate $100 million in domestic rentals (the payments made by exhibitors to distributors). It also surpassed The Exorcist (1973) as the most successful film of its era, ultimately earning approximately $ 480 million globally. It paved the way for a new genre of ‘high concept’ action films. This year marks its 50th anniversary.
As you have guessed it correctly, the movie’s title is Jaws (1975). Star Wars (1977) was the only film that surpassed it. Jaws is acknowledged as the first hit of the most commercially successful director of all time named Steven Spielberg. A new style of filmmaking emerged ever since the release of ‘Jaws.’ This new style of filmmaking became the hallmark of Hollywood production. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) are just a few examples of Spielberg’s signature high-budget productions. Jurassic Park was the only movie that nearly replicated Jaws’ combination of suspense, terror, and unbridled nature.
In addition to being a 44-week hit, Jaws was also Peter Benchley’s best-selling book. Later, the authour reportedly bemoaned writing about sharks since it instilled incorrect beliefs and terror. He became an advocate for marine conversation as a result of this comment. Benchley, who had earlier written Time and a Ticket and worked as a freelancer to help support his family, was left to make one last effort to make a living as a writer. There were two things he could do. One was a novel about a man-eating shark that terrorized a community, while the other was a non-fiction book about pirates. It is said that a news story about a fisherman catching a huge white shark off the shore of Long Island served as the inspiration for Jaws. It is believed that Doubleday editor Thomas Congdon was drawn to Benchley’s shark novel and offered him a $1000 advance, which prompted the author to submit the first 100 pages.
Steven Spielberg is thought to have taken a big risk with Jaws. According to reports, he was a young filmmaker at that time and had a strong television resume, which included Duel (1971) and The Sugarland Express (1974). He received an Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Film Sound Editing’ for Duel in 1972, while the Cannes Film Festival’s Best Screenplay prize went to The Sugarland Express in 1974. The Conversation, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, won the festival’s prized Grand Prix du Festival International du Film, generally known as the Palme d’Or. Spielberg fought hard to be given the opportunity to make Jaws. While the Sugarland Express was not created to be a box office champion, Jaws was, in the wake of Peter Benchley’s best seller. The film had to be a hit.
There was no assurance that the projected hydraulic shark would seem realistic on screen, and it was the first film to be filmed on the ocean instead in the tanks of a studio. As soon as the novel was published, Benchley and the filmmakers started advertising it, and they heavily advertised the film before to is debut.
Despite having starred in some of the largest recent blockbusters, the primary actors did not drive the majority of the box office receipts.
The release of Jaws, the first in a new genre known as the summer blockbuster film, was seen by many as the real beginning of New Hollywood, a new age filmmaking that turned the typically low-earning summer break into a lucrative time of year. The first movie to exceed the $ 100 million step-in-box-office earnings was this one, and it stayed No. 1 until Star Wars was released in 1977. Summer was also the holiday period when people enjoyed watching movies. Jaws was a rewarding subject not only because of its spectacular success but this film was Spielberg’s breakthrough. The director was not an established brand at the beginning of the shooting and therefore the success of the movie was far from guaranteed. Despite this, the assertion that all those involved in the filming felt they were part of something remarkable from the start.
John Williams is one individual who deserves special recognition. With a seven-decade career, John Williams is among the greatest conductors and composers of sound. Jaws was the first film he teamed with Steven Spielberg. John Williams exhibited not only his musical flexibility and proficiency but also had deep dramaturgic awareness of what style of sound the film at hand essentially required. Williams has been one of Spielberg’s most reliable collaborators since the movie, always coming up with one correct answer to any particular issue related to the sound. The shark is still the main attraction of Jaws, which was released fifty years ago and undoubtedly contributed significantly to Spielberg’s rise to fame. The shark is a major point of concentration for viewers of this cult classic, which Spielberg created at the age of twenty-seven.
The influence of Jaws on cultural depictions and perceptions of great white sharks is significant and persists as a clear point of reference for documentaries about the species. The arguably detrimental effects of fictional portrayals of animals on their narrative development in wildlife films and natural history documentaries have been thoroughly documented and critiqued in academic discussions. It is odd, though, that Jaws’ influence has received so little attention in the field of documentary studies on natural history. It would seem reasonable that Jaws, especially Blue Water, White Death, should have been given more critical attention given the history of documentaries and the film since its premiere. The tensions between cultural beliefs and scientific facts are exemplified by Jaws’ obvious and persistent influence on great white shark depictions in documentaries. Jaws is frequently acknowledged in great white shark documentaries in a number of ways, including directly in titles, narration, and conversation, as well as indirectly through narrative style, music selections, and visual emphasis.
(Saunak Mookerjee a professional experience in communications, website management, and content writing at PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, New Delhi.)