Was Jaws Based On A Real Shark? Real-Life Attacks Explained (2024)

Steven Spielberg's 1975 shark-thriller Jaws was the first true summer blockbuster and redefined what cinema could be. The terror of the film's shark, Bruce, led to increased efforts by marine biologists and shark experts to protect the great white species and conserve the sea world. The global success of Jaws also created a spectacle around sharks, leading to a rise in shark-attack interest and commercial events like Discovery's shark week. The fear that Spielberg instilled in audiences across the world was a remarkable cinematic feat.

It's no secret that Jaws stands as one of the most important and impactful movies of all time, and it turns out that there could be some truth behind its fictional plot. Spielberg adapted the basis of the story from a 1974 novel of the same name by Peter Benchley, who had taken up an intense interest in shark attacks, an interest that was shared by the producers of Jaws, who started planning a big screen adaptation before the novel was even published. Researchers have recently pointed out similarities between the novel, what happened in Jaws, and a series of real-life attacks in July 1916.

Jaws Is Fictional, But Similar Events Did Occur In 1916

A Series Of Brutal Shark-Attacks Made For A Real-Life Thriller

A sea monster like the great white is a hard reality to grasp, and prior to the massive release of Jaws in 1975, much was unknown about the species, and scientists today are still dedicated to uncovering the truth of their behavior. The first time that scientists saw the wrath of the fear-inducing creature was in 1916, when a juvenile shark swam along New Jersey shores and ruined the summers of multiple victims looking to enjoy Atlantic swims, the first fatal shark spree of its kind in America.

The shark made headlines as he wreaked havoc on beach enthusiasts, beating out World War I news for the front pages, and scientists questioned whether a baby great white could really do that much damage. The terrifying creature claimed five victims from July 1-12 across a 70-mile radius, and only one survived. An expert at the American Museum of Natural History suggested that it was in fact the ancient man-eater behind the brutal reign, causing panics and riots against the creature. These attacks were referenced in Benchley's novel, and he promoted the fact that everything in his story could actually happen, because it did.

How Jaws The Movie Compares To The True Story

The Men That Slayed The Beast In 1916 Didn't Need A Bigger Boat

Of course, the crew of protagonists in Jaws was completely fictional, but the real-life reign of shark terror ended in a heroic way. Two fishermen killed the great white to protect themselves and their boat. The events leading up to this victory are very reminiscent of what goes down in the hit blockbuster thriller. The shark killed four people, including a man in an estuary, which actually happens in the movie. Additionally, politicians and scientists tried to deny the threat of the real-life shark, leading to public outcry and heroic sacrifice, a familiar tune for fans of Spielberg's classic, which is on its way to Netflix this month.

Benchley made the story his own in a lot of ways, with memorable characters and kills that Spielberg turned into an iconic horror experience. The chaos of 1916 happened off the coast of New Jersey, whereas the setting of the Jaws we all know was the fictional eastern resort of Amity Island. Bruce, the animatronic that Spielberg used for Jaws, made for a legendary threat, but nobody knows for sure what species the events of over a century ago were carried out by, as it could have been a bull shark or some other threatening beast.

Jaws enthusiasts argue that the film may be a real-world metaphor in some way, but after researchers uncovered the details of the 1916 attacks, it is clear that the legacy of the movie simply stems from the terror of the great white.

Source: BBC

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Jaws

Adventure

Horror

Thriller

Director

Steven Spielberg

Release Date

June 18, 1975

Writers

Peter Benchley , Carl Gottlieb , John Milius , Howard Sackler , Robert Shaw