Collecting U.S. movie posters from the JAWS film series
You can catch The Shark Is Broken from 25th July 2023 at the Golden Theater, New York, NYC.
Hello, Islanders!
It’s one of the most iconic images in Pop Culture History. The impact of artist Roger Kastel’s brilliant artwork for the original JAWS movie poster has often been imitated, but never duplicated. There have been four films in the JAWS series, each one with a poster that had its own distinctive look. Here is a look at some of the most popular U.S. posters, and a couple of things to look out for if you’re looking to add one to your collection.
JAWS
Not to sound like Grandpa Simpson, the 1970s – and the decades before – were ideal times to be a movie poster collector. First off, movie posters weren’t as popular then as a collectable item. A company called National Screen Service (NSS) had deals with all of the studios to provide posters and other advertising to theatres. Each poster had a little blurb on the bottom stating that, once finished with the item, it was to be returned to NSS. A lot of theatres did this. Some didn’t. I started working in movie theatres in 1976. My first job – I was led to a storeroom and told to “clean it out.” There were old boxes and stacks of old office paperwork. There were also, on two long shelves, about 150 movie posters from the past 5 years or so. I threw out the boxes and paperwork. The posters went home with me. That is how my addiction started!
The 1970s was also a great time for multiple types of promotional images. The original JAWS poster was no exception. Theatres could order sets of (8) color photos from the film, in both 8”x10” and 11”x14” sizes. The larger set were called lobby cards. And there were many different sizes of the poster:
One Sheet – this was the most popular poster size, as theatres usually had several cases outside the theatre and in the lobby to display them. The posters measured 27”x41” and came folded. If you are ever offered an “original” poster that is rolled, save your money. It’s phony. There are reprints of the JAWS one sheet readily available, but they measure 27”x40”. Once the film opened and became popular, another poster, listing various “Shark Facts” was sent to theatres playing the film.
Insert – this poster measured 14”x36”, printed on a heavy paper stock and was used primarily as a window display. Also, the AMC theatre chain used this size poster cases outside their theatres and in their lobbies, so AMC was the big buyer of inserts. A counterfeit version of this poster appeared in the late 1990s, so be wary if you plan on purchasing one. The giveaway on the counterfeit is that the borders are almost “too” white.
22X28 – I don’t think this poster had a designation like one sheet or insert. It was always a 22x28 to me, named for its dimensions. Printed on heavy paper stock and also mostly used for window displays.
There were two other sizes of the JAWS poster available, both printed on heavy stock. One measured 30”x40” and the other 40”x60”. These were usually displayed on the wall outside of the auditorium showing the film.
Two other items that you could order was a large, silk banner and a lobby standee. They are both featured in this photo.
JAWS 2
In early 1977, Universal studios split from NSS, giving their business to the Donald Velde Company, based in New York City. This proved to be bad news for poster collectors, as they only supplied standard one sheets. This proved to be a problem for AMC theatres because their poster cases were designed for inserts. I worked at an AMC theatre in 1977 and it broke my heart to have to take a pair of scissors to Smokey and the Bandit poster and cut it down to make it “fit” into the poster case. Because of the switch to Velde, both the awesome sunset advance poster and the regular one sheet were provided to theatres. Certain theatres also received a “Shark Facts” one sheet, which basically aped the poster for the original film but included the JAWS 2 image. Finally, for reasons I don’t understand, both the 8”x10” and 11”x14” color photo sets only contained (4) photos.
In larger cities, like New York and Los Angeles, Universal distributed large “subway” posters in both the advance and regular release styles. They measured 45”x59” and were multi-folded.
Finally, both the 1979 JAWS reissue one sheet and the 1980 JAWS 2 reissue one sheet came from Velde. The 1979 JAWS reissue lobby card set only contains (4) photos.
JAWS 3-D and JAWS THE REVENGE
Back in the good graces of National Screen Service, the posters for Universal’s final two JAWS installments consisted of both advance and regular one sheets and 8”x10” and 11:x14” color photo sets (8) in each set. JAWS 3D also had an insert poster.
Words by Michael A Smith. Michael is co-author of Jaws 2: The Making Of The Hollywood Sequel. You can order the book by contacting Michael at OsFanMike@aol.com.
If you would like to write for The Daily Jaws, please visit our ‘work with us’ page
For all the latest Jaws, shark and shark movie news, follow The Daily Jaws on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.