Back in 1975 UK Jaws fans had to have a bigger wait to see the Steven Spielberg shark classic

“August, but the summer dinks come down here in June.” So lamented the Amity Hardware Store owner in Jaws.

But if you were in the UK in 1975 and wanting to see what all the fuss was about with the Steven Spielberg shark film, you had to wait over six months since its release in the US to get your first glimpse.

The cast of Jaws - Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw

Jaws may have been wowing American audiences since June 20, but cinema goers in the UK didn’t get to see their first glimpse of Jaws – through closed fingers, naturally - until Boxing Day, the day after Christmas Day!

One of those people who was lucky enough to see it on December 26, 1975, was life-long Jaws fan Mark Mason who first visited Amity Island via the West End, aged 11, with his mum and dad.

Mark said: “The scariest scenes for me were the first attack on Chrissie, Ben Gardner's boat and Hooper in the cage, they all had me squirming in my seat.

“I couldn't stop talking about it on the way home, I just remember I wanted to see it again even though it scared the hell out of me.”

You can read Mark’s full reminisces of seeing Jaws on the silver screen here: Memories Of Watching Jaws On Opening Day in 1975 — The Daily Jaws

Thankfully, UK audiences in 2022 haven’t had to wait quite so long for the IMAX and 3D versions of the seminal shark film set on Amity Island to cross over pond, it opening just a week after it made its debut in the US.

Here’s hoping that it can emulate that same success that it has had in the States, where screen for screen it out-performed the competition last weekend.

Ross Williams, Creator of The Daily Jaws, the world’s number one Jaws fan site, said: “Robert Shaw is British, Spielberg loves the UK, The Shark Is Broken made its debut here, and headed to London ahead of the Orca setting sail to Canada, and even Richard Dreyfuss took part in our Great British Bake Off. Our love for Jaws knows no bounds, many of us after all are islanders.

“And let’s not forget that The Daily Jaws is UK-based, so both Dean – our Head of Content - and I will be heading to our local IMAX screens to see a bigger boat, bigger Chief Brody, bigger Hooper and bigger Quint. And like US audiences no doubt we’ll come out with even bigger smiles.”

Jaws opens on UK IMAX and 3D screens on Friday 9 September.

Words by Dean Newman

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