Three-time Oscar winner Steven Spielberg regrets the impact his iconic film has had on the shark hunting boom
- Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is based on a 1974 novel by Peter Benchley
- After his release in 1975, a shark hunting frenzy broke out
- The director regrets the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film
Steven Spielberg promised moviegoers they would “never go in the water again” after seeing his 1975 thriller Jaws.
But the director has now revealed he’s also scared of swimming – because he thinks sharks are “mad at him” for the hunting craze that erupted after the film.
The three-time Oscar winner, interviewed for BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs today, said: “It’s one of the things I still dread. Not being eaten by a shark, but that sharks are kind of mad at me for the feeding frenzy of crazy sport fishermen that happened after 1975.
“I truly regret, and to this day, the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film. I really, really regret that.”
Three-time Oscar winner Steven Spielberg reveals he fears sharks might be “mad at him” over the sport-fishing craze that took place after his 1975 film Jaws
Jaws, based on a 1974 novel by Peter Benchley, has been called “the most terrifying movie ever made.” Following their success, shark hunting became a popular sport, and competitions to capture the largest or heaviest animal became a regular event along America’s Atlantic coast.
The film was acclaimed by critics, who noted that some of the scariest moments were when the shark didn’t show up.
The director said, “I sincerely regret, and to this day, the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film. I really, really regret that
Spielberg told Desert Island Discs host Lauren Laverne that many of these scenes were born out of necessity because the film’s mechanical shark kept breaking. He said, “It’s a much better movie with the shark collapsing because I had to be imaginative to figure out how to create suspense and scare without seeing the shark itself.
“It was just luck that the shark kept breaking. It was lucky for me and I think it’s lucky for the audience too, because I think it’s a scarier movie without seeing as much of the shark.
Desert Island Discs airs today at 11.15am on BBC Radio 4.