Facts about Jaws

1. 06

   Richard Zanuck and David Brown produced Jaws for a then-staggering budget of 9 million dollars, making it one of the most expensive films ever made at that time.

   JawsMay 14shareproductionfinance1970s
2. 05

   At 124 minutes, Jaws became the first film to gross over 100 million dollars domestically, earning 470.7 million worldwide and revolutionizing Hollywood's blockbuster economics.

   JawsMay 14shareboxofficefilmhistoryeconomics
3. 04

   Universal Pictures distributed Jaws to 464 theaters on June 20, 1975, making it the first summer blockbuster and establishing the modern film industry's seasonal release strategy.

   JawsMay 14sharecinemahistorybusiness
4. 03

   Robert Shaw, who played Quint, ad-libbed the entire Indianapolis monologue, one of cinema's most famous scenes, which Steven Spielberg decided to keep in the final film.

   JawsMay 14shareactingfilmimprovisation
5. 02

   Steven Spielberg shot Jaws on Martha's Vineyard in 1974, spending 159 days filming on the island despite the mechanical shark's constant malfunctions.

   JawsMay 14sharefilmproductionlocation
6. 01

   The mechanical shark in Jaws required 2700 gallons of water per day to operate and malfunctioned so frequently during filming that Spielberg relied heavily on suspenseful editing and the John Williams score instead.

   JawsMay 14sharefilmproductionmechanics