But…as the project progressed, it was discovered that what has often been described in historical accounts as a record saturation opening is nothing more than a myth. The premise that Jaws opened in an unusually large number of theaters inspired me to research and assemble a list of the theaters that took part in the film’s landmark release. Prompted by extraordinary feedback from the film’s sneak-preview screenings that spring, Universal saturated the market by opening Jaws simultaneously in nearly 500 theaters and promoting it with a massive television ad campaign at a time when the industry norm was to launch in a conservative number of theaters (and expand gradually) and to rely on minimal if any television advertising. Little did anyone realize the impact - positive and negative - that this one film would have in influencing a shift in the type of movies that would get made, when and how they would be released, their earnings potential, and, not to mention, causing people to reconsider swimming in the ocean. Timed to coincide with schools letting out and families beginning their summer vacations, Universal Pictures released Jaws, Steven Spielberg’s thrilling cinematic adaptation of Peter Benchley’s best-selling novel about a great white shark that terrorizes a New England coastal resort town. June 20, 1975…the day the modern summer blockbuster was born. Ned Tanen (Universal Executive), 1931-2009 Shari Rhodes (Location Casting), 1938-2009 Lew Wasserman (Universal Chairman), 1913-2002 Manfred Zendar (Technical Advisor), 1907-1990Ĭhris Rebello (“Michael Brody”), 1963-2000
REMEMBERING THE ORIGINAL SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER ON ITS 35TH ANNIVERSARYĬharlsie Bryant (Script Supervisor), 1917-1978
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