Mark Your Calendar! 'Jaws' Comes to Theaters on Father's Day
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the movies, Jaws is coming for you. The 1975 blockbuster — in which Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss chase a kid-chomping, barrel-dragging great white shark — splashes into theaters everywhere for two days in June, in celebration of its 40th anniversary. The summer-ready Jaws screening will take place on June 21st and June 24. So if you haven’t made Father’s Day plans yet, may we suggest a trip to Amity Island?
Related: How ‘Jaws: The Revenge’ Jumped the Shark
Jaws, Steven Spielberg’s horror classic about a shark that attacks a sleepy beach town, first opened in theaters on June 20, 1975. Widely considered the first “summer blockbuster,” the movie was a game-changer for Hollywood. The pulse-pounding hit smashed box office records set by The Godfather and The Exorcist, earning more than $260 million in the U.S. alone. It was one of the first films to be advertised on network television, and the first to premiere in hundreds of theaters at once (rather than starting with a limited release). The movie’s young audience went crazy for Jaws merchandise, predicting a trend that would explode with Star Wars a few years later, and which continues to this day. As popular as Jaws was, it was also prestigious, winning three Academy Awards — and proving to the world that big special effects and great filmmaking aren’t mutually exclusive.
Related: Why the Beach Scene in Jaws Still Terrifies
Whether or not you caught Jaws the first time it came to theaters, the 40th anniversary is an excellent excuse to see the still-terrifying great white — and hear Robert Shaw sing sea shanties — on the big screen. For more info, go to Fathom Events.
Watch a shiver-inducing scene from 'Jaws' (1975)
