Jaws Nearly Flopped at the Box Office: Exclusive Details from "The Last Kings of Hollywood"

Published: June 20, 2025

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary, a new book, "The Last Kings of Hollywood" by Paul Fischer, shares behind-the-scenes details about the making of the iconic film Jaws.

The author reveals that after director Steven Spielberg decided not to use a real shark in the movie, the production team built a 25-foot steel predator lined with rubber skin and filled with electronic guts, named Bruce. However, when they took it out to sea, it didn't quite work as planned.

“What worked in the shop did not work in the sea,” says Fischer. “Salt ate at Bruce’s rubber skins. Water gushed out of his eyeballs. His plastic parts soaked up water and his rubber teeth folded back like putty. His circuits were liable to fry when immersed.”

As the filming began in Martha’s Vineyard, the public started crowding the beach to watch Spielberg meticulously craft Jaws. However, when someone observed the three-ton steel shark being pulled out into the sea by a small speedboat, they shouted, “You’re going to need a bigger boat.”

This phrase became a joke on set, often shouted when something went wrong, which happened frequently. From the shark malfunctioning and capsizing to lunch arriving late and walkie-talkies falling overboard, the production faced many obstacles.

The book also shares a funny anecdote about George Lucas, who visited the set of Jaws and was curious about the mechanisms of the shark’s mouth. Spielberg decided to pull a practical joke and pull the lever that closed the mouth of the shark, leaving Lucas stuck inside.

“Steven, Marty, and Milius yanked and pulled, forced the jaws apart, and after several minutes of sweaty, panicked struggle, managed to free George,” Fischer writes. “The four of them hurried off the lot, convinced they’d broken Mattey’s expensive work-in-progress.”

The book "The Last Kings of Hollywood" by Paul Fischer will be released on February 10, 2026, and is available for preorder now.