The crazy story behind the unmade sequel Jaws 3, People 0

Somewhere there is an alternative universe — possibly a better one than this — in which Gremlins filmmaker Joe Dante directed a sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jaws titled Jaws 3, People 0. The project swam into Dante's view after he had made his breakthrough film, 1978's Roger Corman-produced Piranha, as the filmmaker reveals in a clip from the new Shudder documentary Sharksploitation.

"The second Jaws movie had come out right around the time of Piranha," says Dante in the exclusive clip, above. "Universal was very concerned and annoyed that Roger was putting out his rip-off of Jaws the same year that Jaws 2 was coming out and so they apparently threatened an injunction. I discovered much later that Spielberg had stepped in... and said, 'No, you don't get it, this is a spoof, this isn't really a rip-off,' although it is a rip-off. And we basically got away with it, I guess is the phrase. And because of that, I was offered Jaws 3, People 0."

Everett Collection 'Jaws' (1975)

Jaws 3, People 0 was the brainchild of the late Matty Simmons, whose company published the National Lampoon magazine. Simmons was also a producer on the 1978's wildly successful spin-off comedy Animal House.

"I was over at Universal. My next-door neighbors were Dick Zanuck and David Brown," explains Simmons, referring to the legendary producing duo who had overseen Jaws. "First thing [Brown] said to me was, 'Dick and I would love to make a movie with you guys.' So, out of the blue — I just started kidding around — I just said, 'Jaws 3, People Nothing.' I said, 'Peter Benchley (who wrote the original Jaws book) walks out of his house in a bathing suit, jumps into his pool, and disappears. And the next thing we see a fin floating around in the pool.'... He said, 'I love it, I love it, I'll call you tomorrow. We're going to make this movie.'"

Simmons recruited future Breakfast Club filmmaker John Hughes and another screenwriter named Tod Carroll to come up with the script for what Simmons planned to be a raunchy comedy in which, he says, actress Bo Derek would be "nude from the waist up through a good deal of the picture."

"The National Lampoon people wanted to make an R-rated comedy, like Animal House," says Dante. "And the more conservative Zanuck and Brown team wanted to make a PG and have it be a wide-release family picture."

Jaws 3, People Nothing would ultimately be canceled, with Universal instead deciding to make a more traditional sequel with 1983's Dennis Quaid-starring Jaws 3-D.

"I think the project died because they just couldn't agree on what movie they were making," says Dante. "And you can't go into a movie with two entities as powerful as National Lampoon was at that time and Zanuck and Brown and have them fighting constantly through the entire movie. It's just a bad idea and I think they just pulled the plug."

"They had to choose between me and Spielberg and I suspect they made the right choice," concludes Simmons.

Sharksploitation is directed by Stephen Scarlata and explores the cinematic legacy of sharks on film. In addition to Dante and Simmons, the documentary includes interviews with Roger Corman and Jaws screenwriter Carl Gottlieb, among others. Sharksploitation premieres July 21 on Shudder.

Watch the exclusive clip above, and see the trailer for Sharksploitation below.

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