It was the film that created the summer blockbuster and terrified a generation. Now, Jaws is celebrating its 50th anniversary in June, with cinema rereleases and special events being planned.
To celebrate the film that forever changed public perception of sharks, we've rounded up some fascinating behind-the-scenes facts.
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Jaws facts
1. The shark in Jaws is a great white shark. In 2022, director Steven Spielberg told BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs that he fears sharks are "mad" at him for Jaws perhaps leading to "the feeding frenzy of crazy sword fishermen that happened after 1975". He also said that the impact was something "I truly and to this day regret".
2. A mechanical shark was used for the film, but it rarely worked in the salty ocean water as it has only been tested in freshwater.
3. Although the shark in the film isn't named, it's often referred to by fans as Bruce. This is because the mechanical shark was named after Steven Spielberg's lawyer, Bruce Ramer.
4. The mechanical shark weighed 1.2 tons – with the average great white weighing up to 771kg.
5. Great white sharks are 16-20 feet long on average. In Jaws, the shark is estimated to be 25 feet – making him a particularly large specimen.
6. Jaws was the first major movie set at sea to be shot in the ocean, rather than in a water tank.
7. As the mechanical shark was difficult to move around (and its mouth couldn't be moved), Spielberg had to come up with ways to convey the presence of the shark without actually showing it – which led to John William's now-iconic score, which our sister title BBC Music Magazine named one of the greatest movie scores of all time.
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8. The line 'You're gonna need a bigger boat' wasn't in the script but became a catchphrase on set every time something didn't go to plan.
9. The scene where Hooper goes into the shark cage uses real footage of great whites that a separate team shot in Australia. The shark ended up damaging the cage and the resulting footage was so good that the script was rewritten to include it.
10. The tiger shark used in the film was real and was caught in and transported from Sarasota, Florida – over 1,400 miles away.
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11. Peter Benchley's novel Jaws is loosely based on a true story. In July 1916 in Jersey, five people were attacked (with four of them killed) by a juvenile great white shark. The unprecedented series of attacks lasted 1-12 July as the shark swam 70 miles along the Atlantic shore, from Beach Haven, New Jersey, to a farm town on an inland creek nearby New York Harbour. Panic ensued and after many unsuccessful attempts to kill the shark, someone killed it as it attacked their boat.
12. The shark doesn't fully appear in shot in the film until 1 hour and 21 minutes in.
13. The great white shark in Finding Nemo is named Bruce, in homage to Jaws.
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Main image: on the set of Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg/Credit: Getty