Jaws (franchise)

Jaws (franchise)

Jaws is an American film franchise that consists of a novel, four films, a theme park ride, and other tie-in merchandise. The franchise primarily focuses on a great white shark, and its attacks on people in specific areas of the United States. The Brody family is featured in all of the films as the primary antithesis to the shark. The original film was based on a novel written by Peter Benchley, which itself was inspired by the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916. Benchley would adapt his own work, along with help from Carl Gottlieb and Howard Sackler, into the 1975 film Jaws, which was directed by Steven Spielberg. Although Gottlieb would go on to pen two of the three sequels, neither Benchley or Spielberg would return to the film series in any capacity.

The first film was regarded as a watershed film in motion picture history; it became the father of the summer blockbuster movies and one of the first "high concept" films. The film is also known for the introduction of John Williams' famous theme music, which was a simple alternating pattern of the E and F notes of a piano. Williams' theme would go on to win an Academy Award. The film would win other Academy Awards, and even be nominated for Best Picture.

The success of Jaws led to three sequels, which have amassed almost $800 million worldwide in box office gross. The franchise has also seen the release of various soundtrack albums, additional novelizations based on the sequels, trading cards, inspired theme park rides at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Japan, multiple video games, and a musical that premiered in 2004. Although the first film was popular with critics when it was originally released, the sequels have generally been seen negatively by critics. This reception has spread to the merchandise, with video games seen as poor imitations of the original concept. Nevertheless, the original 1975 film has generally been regarded as one of the greatest films ever, and frequently appears in the top 100 of various American Film Institute rankings. Jaws is also considered by some to be the last of the great Universal Monsters.