Steven Spielberg 'Regrets' Sharks Being 'Mad' At Him for 'Jaws' Movie

Oct 21, 2024 by apost team

Steven Spielberg is one of the most celebrated directors of this generation. He is notably known for directing the biggest films in Hollywood that made a mark not just in the United States but in the entire world because of the pop culture impact of his films that shaped nations and countries because of their relevance. 

Among the films that he directed were "Close Encounters of the Third Kind, "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," and the well-beloved "Indiana Jones" series. After spending some time doing fantasy and fiction genres, Spielberg explored drama with "The Color Purple and the "Empire of the Sun."

After a brief hiatus in the late 80s to the early 90s, Spielberg shocked everyone when he directed "Jurassic Park" in 1993, which then became the highest-grossing film at the time. Spielberg was also the mind behind "Schindler's List," received accolades for the World War II epic "Saving Private Ryan."

Spielberg became one of the biggest directors who dominated the science fiction and fantasy genre until the 200s. He directed "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," "Minority Report," "War of the Worlds," and even "The Adventures of Tintin," and "Ready Player One." 

But perhaps the most prominent film that Spielberg directed was the iconic 1975 thriller film "Jaws," which pretty much gave the public anxiety about going near oceans and the fear of predatory fishes.

The director confessed to BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, one aspect that many of his critics, fans, and the general public might not have known about the blockbuster film and its subsequent films.

"Jaws" was regarded as one of the greatest films of all time by several media publications. The film has even become a benchmark for the thriller and horror genre for the years to come. 

Directed by Spielberg and released in 1975, "Jaws" made history as the first major motion picture to be ever shot in an ocean. The film, starred by now-Hollywood icons like Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, and Murray Hamilton, was also considered an important piece in the film industry as its success being released in Summer became a pattern for producers to release blockbuster films on summer. 

The classic battle between Man v.s. Nature started when a young woman was killed by a shark while enjoying herself in the heat of the sun on Amity Island. However, the town's mayor butt heads with the police chief who tries to investigate the death, but the former's worries that the loss of tourist revenue would drain the town. Enlisting the help of a marine scientist and ship captain, the police chief tries to go head to head with the sea's greatest predator. 

Because of this, the phobia of people going to the ocean because of their fear of being eaten by sharks heightened after the film's release. According to The New York Post, the film even terrified phobia experts, that they too don't want to take a dip in the ocean. 

Spielberg, who was the great mind behind the iconic film, was actually apologetic to the species because of how his film scared people, confessing along the way his deeply-seated regrets about the film. 

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Spielberg, whose film "The Fablemans" was nominated at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards, sat down with BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs to talk about the fears he had after making "Jaws."

"Not to get eaten by a shark, but that sharks are somehow mad at me for the feeding frenzy of crazy sports fishermen that happened after 1975," he admitted.

According to National Geographic, the flick was actually responsible for the excessive negative stereotypes about sharks and their predatory behavior, even coining the term "Jaws effect," leading fishermen to pile in boats and kill sharks in various shark-fishing tournaments. 

Conversation groups are even protesting that the movie has made it harder for them to convince the public to protect marine wildlife because of the negative connotation the movie has given off. 

"I truly and to this day regret the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film. I really, truly regret that," he further explained. 

Twenty-six years after it was released, the United States Library of Congress selected "Jaws" to be preserved in the National Film Registry, acknowledging it to be the landmark horror film and the "first summer movie." 

A year after its release, "Jaws" received three Academy Awards, Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score, and Best Sound. Surprisingly, the film did not win Best Picture, despite being nominated as it lost to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

"Jaws" even had subsequent sequels, launching it to become a full franchise, "Jaws 2" and "Jaws 3-D." However, it was not directed by Spielberg anymore and received lower reviews and commercial performance. 

Have you seen "Jaws?" Have you seen other Steven Spielberg films? What do you think about the film? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends, and other Stephen Spielberg fans!