Celebrating 50 Years of Jaws: Spielberg’s Career-Making Shark Thriller at the Academy Museum
Explore the legendary film that transformed Hollywood with exclusive props, behind-the-scenes insights, and the iconic “Bruce” shark model.
LOS ANGELES – Jaws (1975), Steven Spielberg’s groundbreaking thriller about a monstrous man-eating shark, celebrates its 50th anniversary with a spectacular exhibition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.
Spielberg, now 78, reflected on the film’s turbulent production: “The movie cost me a pound of flesh but gave me a ton of career.” He admitted that halfway through filming, he feared his career was over due to budget overruns and delays. “Everyone told me, ‘You’ll never work again,’ but I gave it my all.”
Starring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw, Jaws set new standards for suspense films, winning three Academy Awards and spawning three sequels. The exhibition, which opened on September 14, features more than 200 artifacts spread across multiple galleries, making it the museum’s largest display dedicated to a single film.
One of the highlights is “Bruce,” the life-size shark model used on set and named after Spielberg’s lawyer. The exhibition also includes original production notes, costumes, set pieces, and behind-the-scenes footage. Curator Jenny He described assembling the collection as a “cinematic treasure hunt,” with many items sourced from private collectors and Spielberg’s personal archive.
Visitors can experience the thrill of Jaws by trying to recreate the iconic “da-dum-da-dum” score by Oscar-winning composer John Williams and even handle a replica of the shark.
Spielberg praised the collectors for preserving pieces of film history: “Who would have thought that a buoy from the opening scene would be saved for 50 years?”
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