When he made his 1975 blockbuster “Jaws,” Steven Spielberg was simply 26 — a wunderkind director taking up a killer-shark thriller that just about sank his budding profession earlier than launching him into Hollywood historical past. On Wednesday, stepping onto the stage on the Academy Museum of Movement Footage to assist launch a brand new exhibition marking the movie’s fiftieth anniversary, the now-78-year-old filmmaker stated he felt simply as unprepared now as he did then.
“I made a decision to danger it once more and never come ready with any remarks as we speak,” he advised the group. “I’m empty-handed, besides with a set of reminiscences stimulated simply within the final hour and a half by strolling by way of the exhibition they’ve so ingeniously assembled.”
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What struck Spielberg most as he strolled by way of the galleries have been the relics that someway survived, just like the buoy that bobs within the water after the movie’s unforgettable opening assault when a younger girl is dragged below throughout a midnight swim by the unseen shark. “Why would anyone assume to take the buoy, maintain it for 50 years after which mortgage it to the Academy?” Spielberg stated, sounding genuinely shocked. “How did they know? I didn’t know.”
Opening Sunday and operating by way of July 2026, “Jaws: The Exhibition” is the Academy Museum’s largest present dedicated to a single movie, spanning 11,000 sq. toes of the Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Gallery with greater than 200 artifacts, interactive shows and immersive environments. Highlights embody the unique “Amity Island Welcomes You” signal (altered, per the plot, by vandals who add a shark fin), a re-creation of the Orca’s cabin, Joe Alves’ storyboard sketches of the shark assaults and early idea artwork and scripts annotated with Spielberg’s notes. Moreover, obsessives can view Quint’s harpoon gun and authentic design specs for the mechanical sharks constructed to terrorize Martha’s Winery in 1974.
The unique “Amity Island Welcomes You” signal is without doubt one of the centerpieces of the Academy Museum’s new exhibit.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Occasions)
The exhibition isn’t solely about peering at relics behind glass, however one which invitations guests to step into the filmmaking course of. Interactive stations allow them to re-create the dolly zoom when Roy Scheider’s Chief Brody realizes the shark has attacked close to the seashore, faucet out the two-note theme from John Williams’ Oscar-winning rating or function a scale duplicate of the mechanical shark utilizing hand levers.
The selection of “Jaws” was not shocking for an exhibit of this scope. Spielberg has lengthy been one of many museum’s most seen champions, donating $10 million towards its building in 2013. The film itself outlined the trendy summer time blockbuster, spending 14 consecutive weeks on the high of the U.S. field workplace and turning into a worldwide phenomenon that modified how Hollywood launched its greatest movies. Because the museum opened 4 years in the past, its largest object has been Bruce, the 25-foot mannequin shark nicknamed after Spielberg’s lawyer, which hangs on the fourth flooring and rapidly grew to become an unofficial mascot.
“From the day the museum opened, Bruce was there,” says Amy Homma, the museum’s director and president. “So to me, it solely made sense for us to dive deeper, pun meant — to inform extra tales concerning the making of the movie. This movie is beloved. It continues to seek out audiences throughout generations. And for us to commit 11,000 sq. toes, our greatest exhibition area, there are such a lot of tales to inform.”
The exhibit features a smaller duplicate of the mechanical shark that guests can transfer with levers.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Occasions)
Placing the present collectively was a three-year epic. Curators had entry to Spielberg’s archive at Amblin, which included sketches, notes and props, however in addition they needed to scour non-public collections, public sale data and storage rooms for items few thought would resurface. One of many hardest gadgets to trace down was the Oscar awarded to editor Verna Fields, whose taut slicing constructed the movie’s suspense. It was ultimately situated by way of an eBay transaction.
“A lot of the work of our curatorial workforce is treasure looking, particularly after we’re speaking about movies that have been made within the Seventies,” Homma says. “It wasn’t frequent observe for studios or archives to carry onto objects. Lots of costumes and props would get reused, recycled, taken aside.”
Costumes worn by the actors in “Jaws” are displayed within the exhibit.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Occasions)
The result’s an exhibition that performs virtually like shifting by way of the film itself. Spielberg’s personal archives contribute among the most private touches: a whimsical clapper board formed like shark enamel, a handwritten be aware from his secretary relaying information of the record-breaking opening weekend, a thank-you be aware from producer Richard Zanuck. Props and costumes — Quint’s battered jacket, Hooper’s rucksack, Brody’s Amity police patch — evoke the lived-in really feel of Amity Island, alongside iconic objects just like the “Seaside Closed” signal and the fiberglass dorsal fin rigged for floor photographs. A web page of shark info written in Spielberg’s hand exhibits the obsessive analysis that went into making the predator convincing on display.
An annotated script from the “Jaws” manufacturing.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Occasions)
Greater than any movie earlier than it, “Jaws” demonstrated how a success film might ripple far past the display, spawning merchandise and tie-ins that helped outline the trendy blockbuster mannequin. The exhibition’s closing gallery drives that time dwelling with a flood of artifacts charting the shark’s attain throughout many years. Posters from world wide testify to the movie’s international influence, whereas shows overflow with 1975 souvenirs: Jaws T-shirts, shark-tooth necklaces, a classic pinball machine, a gumball dispenser, inflatable sharks, youngsters’ board video games and seashore towels.
For the Academy Museum, the “Jaws” exhibit expands on earlier, smaller exhibits concerning the making of “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Godfather.” It’s not nearly honoring a basic however about getting individuals by way of the doorways. The film itself nonetheless pulls crowds, with a fiftieth anniversary re-release ending second on the field workplace final month forward of two new titles, Darren Aronofsky’s crime thriller “Caught Stealing” and the darkish comedy “The Roses.”
A classic “Jaws” pinball machine is one in all quite a few gadgets testifying to the film’s merchandising energy.
(Etienne Laurent / For The Occasions)
“We’re all the time pondering of the stability,” Homma says. “What is going to appeal to cinephiles and die-hard movie followers, and what’s going to appeal to vacationers who might not know quite a bit about movie historical past. It’s by no means an ‘both/or’ — it all the time needs to be an ‘and.’”
The museum is already wanting forward on that entrance, with plans for a full Spielberg retrospective in 2028. It is going to be probably the most expansive survey of his profession to this point, constructing on the momentum of “Jaws” whereas widening the lens to incorporate his 5 many years of filmmaking.
For Spielberg, the “Jaws” exhibition introduced again the ordeal of constructing a film he as soon as thought would finish his profession. The obstacles piled up: a mechanical shark that not often labored, climate that refused to cooperate and a manufacturing that stretched 100 days over schedule, with crew members getting seasick and pleading for a agency finish date he couldn’t present.
“I believed my profession was just about over midway by way of manufacturing on ‘Jaws,’ as a result of everyone was saying to me, ‘You might be by no means going to get employed once more,’” he stated from the rostrum. “‘This movie is manner over finances and manner over schedule, and you’re a actual legal responsibility as a director.’ So I actually thought that I’d higher give this my all, as a result of I’m not working within the business once more after they see the film.”
What obtained them by way of, he stated, was easy camaraderie. “It introduced all of us nearer collectively,” Spielberg continued. “I’ve by no means been nearer to a crew or a solid.”
And ultimately, the wrestle paid off. “The movie actually value me a pound of flesh,” Spielberg stated, “but it surely gave me a ton of profession.”
