'Jaws' Launched Summer Blockbuster 35 Years Ago
Steven Spielberg in 1975 and now."Jaws," only the second feature Spielberg directed, made the director a household name, but he has often lamented how it became his own personal test.
The production was nicknamed "Flaws" because of all the shooting delays and budget over-runs, often due to the three mechanical sharks' frequent malfunctionings. Originally budgeted for $4 million, the final production cost $9 million and filming lasted 159 days instead of the scheduled 55 days.
"I thought my career as a filmmaker was over," Spielberg later said in a newspaper interview.
Instead, the box office success of "Jaws" launched Spielberg as one of the country's most successful directors. "Jaws" along with "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" and "Jurassic Park" shattered box-office records and "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan" earned him Academy Awards for best director
Now 63, with an estimated worth of $3 billion and his own Dreamworks Studio, Spielberg can write his own ticket.
