2025 will mark the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest movies ever made, director Steven Spielberg’s classic Jaws – and The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that National Geographic, Amblin Documentaries, and Nedland Media are teaming up to celebrate the anniversary with the documentary Jaws @ 50 (at least, that’s the current working title), which will focus on the tumultuous production of the film as well as the writing of the original novel by Peter Benchley. Laurent Bouzereau, who directed Faye (a documentary about Faye Dunaway) and wrote the book Spielberg: The First Ten Years, will be directing Jaws @ 50. Bouzereau is also in production on a documentary about composer John Williams.
Jaws @ 50 will include footage and photography from the Benchley and Spielberg archives, and will also look at how the blockbuster gave rise to a new generation of shark obsessives. The doc will be made in collaboration with ocean conservation and marine policy advocate Wendy Benchley, the wife of Peter.
Wendy Benchley and Laura A. Bowling are producing the documentary. Amblin’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey serve as executive producers with Nedland Media’s Bouzereau and Markus Keith, plus National Geographic’s Ted Duvall.
Frank and Falvey provided the following statement: “Jaws the novel by Peter Benchley and the film by Steven Spielberg, defined both popular literature and cinema. The idea of diving into the past, present and future legacy of Jaws, combined with an informed and inspiring discussion about sharks and the ocean in one documentary, is a unique opportunity to explore the perfect union between art and science.“
When he was interviewed for Spielberg: The First Ten Years, Spielberg told Bouzereau, “Being on Jaws became a living nightmare, and not because I didn’t know what I was doing or because I was struggling to find the movie in my head. I knew the film I wanted to make. I just couldn’t get the movie I had in mind on film as quickly as I wanted. The end never seemed to be in sight, and yet I was the only person who could reassure the crew that there would be an end to this some day.“
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