2025 marks the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest movies ever made, director Steven Spielberg’s classic Jaws – and about a year ago, we heard that National Geographic, Amblin Documentaries, and Nedland Media were teaming up to celebrate the anniversary with the documentary Jaws @ 50. Now, a trailer has been released for Jaws @ 50, which is set to begin streaming on Disney+ and Hulu as of July 11th. Check it out in the embed above!
The documentary focuses on the tumultuous production of the film as well as the writing of the original novel by Peter Benchley. Laurent Bouzereau, who directed Faye (a documentary about Faye Dunaway) and wrote the book Spielberg: The First Ten Years, directed Jaws @ 50. Bouzereau is also working on a documentary about composer John Williams.
Jaws @ 50 will include footage and photography from the Benchley and Spielberg archives, and will also look at how the blockbuster gave rise to a new generation of shark obsessives. The doc was made in collaboration with ocean conservation and marine policy advocate Wendy Benchley, the wife of Peter. Screen Rant reports that the documentary includes newly recorded reflections from Spielberg who opens up about the infamously difficult shoot that nearly derailed his career – from battling malfunctioning mechanical sharks and harsh weather to suffering post-production PTSD. The film includes never-before-seen footage from Spielberg’s and author Peter Benchley’s personal archives, including rare outtakes and home videos.
There are interviews with J.J. Abrams, Emily Blunt, James Cameron, Cameron Crowe, George Lucas, Greg Nicotero, Jordan Peele, Steven Soderbergh, Guillermo del Toro, Robert Zemeckis, John Williams (composer), Joe Alves (production designer), Lorraine Gary (Ellen Brody), Carl Gottlieb (Meadows, screenwriter), Jeffrey Kramer (Hendricks), Jonathan Filley (Cassidy), Jeffrey Voorhees (Alex Kintner), Ian Shaw, Benchley’s family members, and shark experts.
Wendy Benchley and Laura A. Bowling are producing the documentary. Amblin’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey serve as executive producers with Nedland Media’s Bouzereau and Markus Keith, plus National Geographic’s Ted Duvall.
When the project was first announced, Frank and Falvey provided the following statement: “Jaws the novel by Peter Benchley and the film by Steven Spielberg, defined both popular literature and cinema. The idea of diving into the past, present and future legacy of Jaws, combined with an informed and inspiring discussion about sharks and the ocean in one documentary, is a unique opportunity to explore the perfect union between art and science.“
When he was interviewed for Spielberg: The First Ten Years, Spielberg told Bouzereau, “Being on Jaws became a living nightmare, and not because I didn’t know what I was doing or because I was struggling to find the movie in my head. I knew the film I wanted to make. I just couldn’t get the movie I had in mind on film as quickly as I wanted. The end never seemed to be in sight, and yet I was the only person who could reassure the crew that there would be an end to this some day.“
What did you think of the Jaws @ 50 trailer? Will you be watching this documentary when it starts streaming in July? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
