Jaws almost turned out to be Spielberg’s biggest professional mistake. But instead, it was the movie that turned Steven Spielberg into a household name. In his late 20s, Spielberg had just finished directing his first feature film, The Sugarland Express (1974), with Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown (who were Universal Pictures’ producers back then) when he accidentally came across Benchley’s novel Jaws at their office one day. Zanuck and Brown purchased the rights to Jaws in 1973 and were diligently preparing to start production. While Universal was considering more experienced directors for the project like John Sturges and Dick Richards, when Spielberg expressed his interest in directing the film, Zanuch and Brown backed him. But as the production started, things went from bad to worse.Behind the Scenes of Jaws - YouTube Jaws proved to be a living hell in terms of production. The book was difficult to adapt. The drafts underwent multiple revisions during which Hal Barwood, Matthew Robbins, and Howard Sackler were brought on board as script consultants. As a young, passionate filmmaker, Spielberg made the bold creative choice of shooting all the exterior scenes outside the studio, even the ocean scenes. Reminiscing during an interview with Ain’t It Cool News, Spielberg accepted that it was a naive decision, but he took it because “if I made the movie in a tank, it would have had that same mythological feel that the Spencer Tracy film, The Old Man and the Sea, has.” Robert A. Mattey had created several...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - 2 days ago