With ‘The Meg‘ circling its release date right now. it feels like the perfect time to explore anything shark related, especially the most iconic fin-filled movie of them all – Jaws! Steven Spielberg created the summer blockbuster and while he was originally interested in making ‘Jaws 2,’ it sounds like the studio wasn’t interested in his idea for it. The man who singlehandedly created a new blockbuster season might have a good idea in what to do for a film, but Universal Pictures didn’t believe in Spielberg’s vision. So instead of the fun idea he had, we instead got multiple sequels which all failed to live up to the quality of the original.
The details came from Mark Ramsey who is the host of the “Inside Jaws” podcast who shared why the studio shut down Spielberg’s ‘Jaws 2’ pitch:
“Originally, they came to him about a sequel for Jaws, and he said, ‘I’ll do it if it’s about the Indianapolis,’ and they said, ‘No,’ and he said, ‘No.’ So that’s how they parted ways at that point.”
For those unfamiliar with the USS Indianapolis, this would place his idea into prequel territory. ‘Jaws 2’ would have been the real-life story that Shaw’s shark hunter Quint tells during the movie. This wasn’t the direction that the studio wanted to go. Unfortunately, Spielberg wasn’t yet the name he is now so his ideas were more easily shot down with some real losers pitched by more esteemed directors being greenlit instead. I’m pretty sure we can all agree that if Spielberg suggested an idea for a sequel to a film he made these days the response would be slightly different.
Did you like ‘Jaws 2’ as it was or would you have preferred Steven Spielberg’s vision of the sequel? Do you think that ‘The Meg’ will remotely be as good as the first ‘Jaws’ when it swims into theaters later this year? Share your thoughts below!
