In the history of movies, only a select few have had an impact like Jaws. Impact that doesn’t just reverberate through film history, but culture at large. Jaws supercharged the careers of iconic director Steven Spielberg, composer John Williams, and others, giving us so much magic in the decades that followed. It changed the way Hollywood made and marketed movies and inspired an entire new generation to make movies themselves. Plus, who hasn’t had the movie on their mind as they tiptoe into the ocean? All of that and so much more promise to be part of a brand new documentary coming this summer, and it’s completely official.
Directed by Spielberg’s longtime collaborator Laurent Bouzereau (Music by John Williams, Timeless Heroes), the 90-minute documentary is called Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story. It’s premiering on July 10 on National Geographic as part of Sharkfest and will debut the next day on Disney+, Hulu, and Nat Geo. Spielberg’s Amblin Documentaries produced it in conjunction with Wendy Benchley, a renowned shark and ocean advocate, who also happened to be married to the late, great, author of Jaws, Peter Benchley.
In addition to Spielberg and Benchley, the film promises a who’s who of people who worked on the film (such as Williams; cast members Jonathan Filley, Lorraine Gray, and Jeffrey Voorhees; Ian Shaw, the son of the late Robert Shaw; screenwriter Carl Gottlieb; and others), as well as a laundry list of superfans. Among those are J.J. Abrams, Emily Blunt, James Cameron, Cameron Crowe, George Lucas, Greg Nicotero, Jordan Peele, Steven Soderbergh, Guillermo del Toro, and Robert Zemeckis, to name a few.
Here’s the trailer for the documentary, which not only teases that we’ll get to see a lot of fantastic footage from the actual production of the film, but also Spielberg diving deeper than ever before into his feelings about it.
If you’ve seen any of Bouzereau’s other films with Spielberg connections, such as his documentaries on Harrison Ford and John Williams, you know he has an incredible ability to be honest about the subjects, but also remind you why you care about them in the first place. And if you haven’t seen those, watch them ASAP. We can’t wait to see how that carries over to Jaws, one of the most important movies in history. Here’s the awesome poster for the doc.
The poster for Jaws @ 50 – Nat GeoWant more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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