What if Roy Scheider had returned for JAWS 3-D and JAWS The Revenge?
Hello, Islanders,
Ross has charged me with a doozy of an assignment: What if Roy Scheider/Chief Brody had returned for both JAWS 3 and JAWS the Revenge? Here we go…
As much as I loved Roy Scheider, both as an actor and as a friend, I think had he consented to continue the role that the franchise would have eventually entered Abbot and Costello territory. There is no way you could have a giant shark show up in Amity for the THIRD TIME! Had that occurred, Amity would have been a ghost town from then on. It’s like the old adage, “Fool me once, shame on you….have another shark problem AGAIN, shame on me!”
So let’s say you keep the Sea World-centric plot. First off, you’d have to make the Brody boys kids again. Mike Brody is 17 and Sean is 10 in JAWS 2. The actors that portray them, Dennis Quaid and John Putch, were 29 and 22, respectively, when the film was released, which means the Brody boys were that age in the film. So instead of jumping ahead twelve years in the story, you’d have to jump ahead one.
The Brody’s go to Sea World to get away from the constant barrage of reporters and sightseers who have flocked to Amity since they had ANOTHER big shark show up. While there, people begin dying mysteriously. Even though he’s on vacation, Brody is a cop first and his curiosity is piqued by everything going on. Convinced that Sea World as “a shark problem,” he teams up with Fitz Royce to save the day. He is awarded with a parade and a lifetime pass to Sea World.
“Satan himself could not get me to do Jaws part 4.”
For JAWS the Revenge we need to imagine that it’s now 25-years after JAWS 3. Brody has retired and now spends his days staring blankly out to sea. Ellen is dead so he really has no one to talk to except Chief Hendricks, who often stops by to check on him. Sean is a deputy and Mike is…not in this film. When Sean is killed by ANOTHER shark, Brody decides that he must face the shark alone, setting up an “Old Man and the Sea” showdown.
Oddly enough, the shark in this one also roars and flies. Brody hooks the shark and fights with it for several hours, finally getting it to the boat. In a dramatic moment punctuated by John Williams’ score, man and beast lock eyes. Brody nods and cuts the line. As the shark swims off he cocks his finger, points it at the departing shark and says, “Catch you later!” THE END.
As you can see, I’ve used some humor to get to a single point: Roy Scheider returning would not have worked in any way, shape or form.
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.
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