This document provides information about the 1975 film Jaws. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the novel by Peter Benchley. The film had a budget of $7 million and went on to gross over $470 million worldwide, becoming hugely financially successful. It was filmed on location in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts and took 5 months to film due to challenges with the mechanical shark. Universal Pictures spent $1.8 million extensively promoting and marketing the film.

1. This first blockbuster frightened millions of moviegoers out of the
water as this dramatic film took to the screen in the summer of 1975.

2. What is the film about?
A hot summer on the island of Amity, the main attraction is it’s relaxing beaches used by the small
community and tourists; it is a fun place for family and friends… until the discovery of the remains of a
shark attack victim. The Sherriff immediately fears the worst and wants to shut the beach, but this
doesn’t happen as it is the key aspect of business on the island. However it is soon brought to life that
the Sherriff’s fears are worth acknowledging as a young boy is killed by this predator.
Distraught and upset the boys mother puts a bounty on the shark which draws many inexperienced
hunters to the island, although among them is a highly trained hunter; Quint, who promises to destroy
the shark and recreating a safe community.
Several deaths later Amity is know longer an attraction, but more of a death trap as it becomes
impossible to swim in the water, as the fear among tourists grow the business of the island shrinks, and
it soon becomes apparent that this shark has to be killed in order to save the island and its people!
Who is the Director?
Steven Spielberg, a film director, producer, screen writer, video designer and a studio entrepreneur; he
has covered many themes and genres. His sequence of the Jaws film brought him the Academy Award
of Best Director.
Who was the Writer?
The film is an adaption of Peter Benchley’s novel, when the producers purchased the rights of his novel
they promised him he could write the first draft of the screen play. But Steven felt the characters were
still unlikeable and so requested several other writers such as John Byrum to do a re-write; unfortunately
they all declined and so he turned to his friend Carl Gottlieb- a comedy writer. John Milius contributed a
famous line “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” Matthew Robbins and Hal Barwood also contributed to
the story but was un-credited for their efforts as it was of a small scale.
Who was the Producer?
There were two producers and these consisted of Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown, they both work
at Universal Pictures.

3. What is the films budget?
The production budget of the film was $7million
The total lifetime gross: Domestic - $260,000,000 (55.2%)
+ = Worldwide - $470,653,000
Foreign - $210,653,000 (44.8%)
Weekend gross:
Domestic Summary:
Information taken from boxofficemojo.com

4. Where did the filming take place?
The setting was located on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts (State in the
U.S) This location was chosen because the film needed a low-middle class community in
which their income heavily relies on the tourist attraction; this would create a realism
effect – as if it was really happening. It was also chosen because of it’s ocean contained
a sandy bottom which never dropped 35feet for 12miles, allowing the prop of a shark to
operate smoothly.
How long did the film take to shoot?
The film took 5months to shoot; this was longer than expected because the mechanical
shark proved more difficult to operate than first thought.

5. Which studio(s) were involved in
the making of Jaws
 Production Companies: Zanuck/Brown
Productions and Universal Pictures
 Distributors: Universal Pictures
 Other films by Universal: ‘Jurassic Park’
‘American Pie’ and ‘Ted’
 Other films by Zanuck/Brown: ‘Planet of the
Apes’ ‘Charlie and the chocolate Factory’ and
‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet
Street’

6. How was the film promoted?
Universal spent $1.8 million promoting Jaws, this included the $700,000 of
unprecedented (not known) national television spot advertising. The media blitz were able
to see thirty-second advertisements, these were aired per night on prime-time network
TV between June 18, 1975, and the film's opening two days later. Universal had already
created a uniquely, clever plan to advertise their film; October 1974 Richard D.
Zanuck, David Brown and Peter Benchley attended radio and television talk shows to
promote the paper back addiction of the novel, while there they spoke about the
forthcoming film. The poster of the movie was very similar to the novel’s front cover – this
brought the two together, which would widen the audience.
Merchandising took a huge advantage of both the novel and film with products including;
sound-track album, T-shirts, plastic tumblers, a book about the making of the movie, the
book the movie was based on, beach towels, blankets, shark costumes, toy
sharks, hobby kits, iron-transfers, games, posters, shark's tooth
necklaces, sleepwear, water pistols, and much more.

7. How financially successful was the
film?
 The film was released in 26 countries such as
Argentina, South Korea and India.
 The film made $7,061,513 in its opening weekend in
the USA
 Overall the film made $430,510,134 Worldwide
 In the USA the film was released in the summer
June 20, 1975, this is so more kids would go and
see the film since it was the summer.
 In the UK the film was released on the 26 December
1975, this is so the Horror/Thriller would match the
time of year it was (dark film, dark time of year)