Steven Spielberg opens up about ‘Jaws’: Says, ‘I thought my career was virtually over’

‘Jaws’ is perhaps one of the most iconic and thrilling movies from Steven Spielberg’s collection of works. The franchise is one of his most successful ones, and it also paved the path for a completely new genre in the industry.

The film marked its 50th anniversary earlier this year on June 20.

In a recent public event, Spielberg recalled working on the project and even shared how, at the time, it felt like ‘Jaws’ would be one of the last films that he would ever work on.

Steven Spielberg recalls creating ‘Jaws’ at the mere age of 26

The famed filmmaker recently recalled his experience of making ‘Jaws’ when he was only 26 years old. Spielberg recently inaugurated a ‘Jaws’ themed exhibition at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in celebration of its 50th anniversary.

As per Variety reports, the filmmaker recalled working on the film and the artifacts from the sets of the iconic films that have been displayed in the exhibition.He shared, “I thought my career was virtually over halfway through production on ‘Jaws’ because everybody was saying to me, ‘You are never going to get hired again.'” The film was shot at the East Coast island of Martha’s Vineyard, where the cast and crew spent over six months at sea.

Spielberg recalled a hilarious anecdote, citing, “I’ve never seen so much vomit in my life, I haven’t! In the six months out to sea, I have never seen so many people getting sick.

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Steven Spielberg recalled other challenges during the filming of the movie

The film was shot using a mechanical shark in the middle of the ocean, which presented a lot of issues and challenges for the crew, beyond getting seasick constantly. He recalled that there were often moments where they would work long to get cameras and everyone from the cast in position; however, at the end, something unplanned would appear on the screen.

This was specifically because they were shooting in public waters.He shared that “Everybody’s ready. And all of a sudden, the first white sail appears on the horizon, followed by another one, followed by 25 white sails, little regattas going through the frame”. Since no advanced editing tools were available in 1974 when the first film was being shot, the crew had to wait the changes out on most occasions.