50 years on JAWS still has box office bite

Fifty years on, the shark is still working. Steven Spielberg’s JAWS returned to cinema screens for its 50th anniversary and showed it's a 'fast fish' when it comes to delivering bums on seats.

The re-release in the US earned $8.1 million over the weekend and an estimated $9.8 million through Labor Day from 3,200 screens.

That was enough to swim to second position,  outpacing two brand-new studio films - Caught Stealing and The Roses - which isn't a bad record for this vicinity, showing the original summer blockbuster still has teeth.

JAWS is often credited with creating the modern event movie. Its success in 1975 showed studios the value of wide releases during school holidays. Half a century later, audiences still flocked to see the terror of Amity Island on the big screen, whether that was in its traditional format, IMAX, 3D or 4DX.

It was gonna need a bigger box office to take the top spot though, with Warner Bros.’ Weapons reclaiming the number one position with $10.2 million across three days and $12.4 million through Monday.

Despite that, it was still a great turn out by JAWS fans, old and new to seeing it on the big screen alike.

Ross Williams, Founder of The Daily Jaws, the world's number one JAWS fansite, said: "It doesn't matter that JAWS is five decades old, it's still as fresh as the day people first lept out of their seats at Ben Gardner's head and there aren't many films that age that still have that pull and box office.

"To paraphrase Mayor Vaughn, 50 years later people are still having a wonderful time and JAWS is still cinema's greatest apex predator."

Words by Dean Newman

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