Today one of the greatest masterpieces in film history is on TV. However, director Steven Spielberg has reasons to regret the impact of his film
Jaws had immense impact after its theatrical release in 1975. Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece, which is now considered one of the best films of all time, established the business model of Hollywood blockbusters for many years thanks to its success. But the thriller also had consequences for the animal itself, which still haunt Spielberg today.
On TV: Steven Spielberg’s Jaws caused a threatening trend
“To this day, I regret the decimation of the shark population that [Peter Benchley’s Jaws book] and the film caused,” Spielberg told the BBC’s Desert Island Discs podcast last year . And he apparently has a point.
As a scientist explained to the BBC in 2015, the success of the film has led to a veritable hunting frenzy for the animals on the east coast of the USA. The number of sharks in the waters of the North American East had decreased rapidly after the film. Whether this fact alone can be blamed on Spielberg’s masterpiece is, however, debatable.
