Making Jaws

It’s 50 years since the original Jaws film was released in cinemas across America. The movie premiered on 20 June 1975.

Directed by a young Steven Spielberg, who was relatively unknown at the time, it was considered Hollywood’s pioneering summer blockbuster.

The thriller broke records by becoming the first movie to gross over $100 million at the US box office and made millions of people afraid to go into the water.

Carl Gottlieb, who co-wrote the screenplay looks back, in a 2015 Witness History interview, at guiding the chaotic production into cinematic history. Produced and presented by Megan Jones.

With movie excerpts from the 1975 film which was a Universal Picture, a Zanuck/Brown production and directed by Steven Spielberg.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

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(Photo: A scene from the movie. Credit: Screen Archives/Getty Images)