Jaws Still Leads Box Office As World's Highest Grossing Shark Movie
It's no surprise that Jaws leads the list of the top ten highest grossing shark films, The Daily Jaws dives into the murky cinematic waters of live action shark cinema (so, no including Shark Tale or Finding Nemo) to discover which other shark films have taken a sizeable bite out of the the global box office.
To make it a fair filmic fish fight we've taken the money they originally grossed at the global box office and then adjusted it for inflation, based on 2020 figures.
The legacy of the Jaws franchise looms long, as three of the films from the series still make the top five highest grossing shark films of all time. All four are still well within the top ten, and that's not a bad record for this vicinity.
Jaws (1975)
Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$470,653,000
$2,276,534,563.88
Did for swimming what Psycho did for showers. Genuinely, beach numbers were down in 1975, and it was all attributed to Jaws.
It went over production, over budget and the mechanical shark, fondly nicknamed Bruce after Director Steven Spielberg’s Lawyer, often didn’t work. The film should never have worked, but all of this extra time meant the film matured, like a fine wine (red and white of course), to become the classic that we have today.
Jaws still packs a punch (or should that be bite radius) of a juggernaut. The opening night Chrissie attack sequence has never looked so uncomfortably clear, her nakedness making you almost feel voyeur like – making it even closer akin to the shower scene it Psycho in that respect – right up until that moment of impact that’s like a train, when the John Williams score and sound effects really kick into high gear. It’s the perfect opener for a movie.
It’s estimated that an astonishing 67 million Americans saw it upon release, meaning it’s unlikely to ever leave the top of this adjusted list. Jaws is still the apex predator. Here's when we jumped to the defence of Jaws after a film magazine said it was overrated: Total Fools At Film Mag Say Jaws Overrated
Jaws 2 (1978)
Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$187,884,007
$749,890,602.11
For a short while Jaws 2 was the most successful sequel of all time, until Rocky II in 1979. It was however the first sequel to use the number two rather than roman numerals.
Steven Spielberg and Richard Dreyfuss may have been off doing Close Encounters but Roy Scheider (having jumped ship from The Deer Hunter) was back, this time headlining along with Murray Hamilton and Lorraine Gary. John Williams was back, with a rich and luscious extension of his original Oscar winning score.
Even after all these years it still shows how Jawsmania was still a strong swimmer in terms of box office. And remember, it still has the greatest tagline ever, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water. Here's our full review of Jaws 2: 40 Years Of jaws 2
We'd have to wait another 40 years for a shark film to make really big office waves again, so it was quite apt that they were gonna need a bigger shark to do it...
The Meg (2018)
Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$530,259,473
$549,522,284.92
Meg, the book by Steve Alten, had been swimming around in development hell for years. It was essentially Jurassic Shark, so should have been a cinematic wet dream for executives.
It’s as much fun as you’d expect from a film about a giant prehistoric rampaging shark. Just don’t take it too seriously, I mean how could you?
It owes more to the likes of Jurassic Park, Godzilla and Deep Blue Sea - with a dash of Jaws 3D to boot - than a certain film based on a Peter Benchley novel.
And it’s nice to see it all realised with a big budget rather than the likes of Mega Shark or Shark Attack 3: Megalodon. It’s a B-movie with a budget and isn’t afraid to wear that on its chest like a giant tracking beacon.
The Meg is fairly bloodless for such a giant beast - which will probably disappoint many - but that doesn’t make it any less spectacular. Catch our big review here: Mega-Low-Down: The Meg Review
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$164,648,142
$257,180,200.15
Regarded by many as perhaps the next best shark film after Jaws, this Renny Harlin (loving that a Finn directed a shark film) aquatic thriller is essentially The Poseidon Adventure (the constant threat of rising water) meets Jurassic Park (we even get a shark in a kitchen scene) via Alien (in confined spaces no one can hear you scream).
And that spells pure B-movie popcorn pandemonium which delivers in spades and sharks aplenty. Check out our full Deep Blue Sea review here: Retrospective: Deep Blue Sea At 20
Jaws 3D (1983)
Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$87,987,055
$229,887,382.89
Haters are always gonna hate, but Jaws 3D still delivered big at the box office. It's even said that in some theaters it was pulling in more money than Return of the Jedi when it was pulled from screens.
Jaws 3D is Jaws writ large, and we don’t just mean the biggest great white of the series, at 35 feet it’s a full ten feet longer than the original Bruce.
We mean that it is larger in scope and breaks out of Amity to Sea World (yes we know in real life it is landlocked but they establish in the film that it isn’t). Essentially it was remade a few years back, with dinosaurs. Hello, Jurassic World. Here's our eye-popping review of Jaws 3D: Jaws 3D At 35
47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)
Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$196,546,021
$200,060,919.51
It's interesting that it is the sequel that has surfaces in this list and not the original. Although having enjoyed the original 47 Meters Down, I wasn't sat waiting for a sequel or anticipating that one with the daughters of Sylvester Stallone and Jamie Foxx would have me hooked until the end credits.
But after a slow start, that's exactly what happened.
Until you hit the water 47 Meters Down Uncaged doesn't get interesting, but when it finally does the claustrophobia and tension fills the air bubbles, literally until they pop. Here's our deep dive review: 47 Meters Down Uncaged Review
The Shallows (2016)
Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$119,100,758
$129,135,696.68
Blake Lively has to act, well, lively when she discovers she is sharing the waters off a desserted beach with a great white.
It's a race against time and tide in this effective woman versus shark thriller that has some great edge of your seat moments, some great effects and an ending that - for some - came close to jumping the shark.
Either way, it showed that sharks can still be good box office and arguably is the reason we are seeing so many big screen shark films of late.
Jaws the Revenge (1987)
Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$51,881,013
$118,846,339.19
Whatever you feel about the Jaws sequels, they are still in prominent positions when it comes to shark cinema box office takings, still managing to outswim - or almost keep within biting distance of much younger pups. Obviously, the Jaws box office takings take a serious slide with each ensuing film.
The Revenge is what most fans and film critics of the original would like to have on this third and (to date) final sequel to Jaws which was the final theatrical film directed by Joseph Sargent, perhaps most famous for The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, which featured a pre-Jaws Robert Shaw on bad guy duties. Whilst Revenge is series cannon most would probably like to see it fired out of one.
Personally I don’t have so much of a problem with a Great White stalking the Brody family, it makes no less sense than John McClane being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
In fact originally, according to the novelisation of the film, written by Hank Searls who penned the Jaws 2 novel as well, it was originally even more loopy where a local witch doctor had put a curse on the Brody family and the shark was controlled by him. Sounds like something straight out of Scooby-Doo!
It is great to be back on Amity Island briefly and see some familiar townsfolk. There are also several well executed scenes - which don't include Michael Caine dancing - but alas there is no escaping that ending though... either one of them. Here's our full review: Jaws Poor
The Reef (2010)
Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$67,753
$80,856.73
Again, considered by many to be one of the most effective shark thriller films since Jaws, this is based on a true story and featured some grest tense moments and actual great white shark footage. No CGI or models in use here. It's not just the tension that keeps on rising, it's your feet off the floor as well.
Open Water (2003)
Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$54,683,487
$77,338,201.8
Another film taking its inspiration from a real life incident that saw a couple go missing from a dive group and were never seen again. This suggests what may have happened to them, Jaws fans can probably guess their fate, especially with them being called Watkins and Kintner.
FIN
Not quite...
With a whole slew of new shark films set for release in 2021, does that mean this list could be set to change? With us still firmly in the grip of the Covid pandemic, cinemas are showing no signs of returning to normal opening, so that seems an unlikely prospect.
Things should hopefully be looking up in 2022, which is when we are st to see The Meg burst onto screens. So it will be interesting to see where that lands on our list.
FURTHER READING: Shark Movies Coming In 2021