Steven Soderbergh working on 'JAWS book' for 15 years

Soderbergh on Spielberg: JAWS passion project is gonna need a bigger deadline 

Film director Steven Soderbergh has revealed to a Toronto International Film Festival audience that he is working on a love letter book about the making of JAWS.

Like everyone who saw it, the classic 1975 Steven Spielberg shark film made quite the impact, inspiring the writer and director of Sex, Lies and Videotape and Contagion to get into filmmaking. 

Obsessed with the film, which starred Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss, he wore out numerous copies of The Jaws Log by Carl Gottlieb, who both featured in the Martha's Vineyard-set film - doubling for Amity Island - and was co-screenwriter with Peter Benchley, the author of JAWS.

Steven Soderbergh working on 'JAWS book' for 15 years

Soderbergh, quoted in an article by The Hollywood Reporter, said: "I’ve been working on this thing [the book] that is ostensibly about directing and uses as its spine an analysis of the making of Jaws day-to-day."

The book would be unlike others written about the making of the film and would be more JAWS as film school.

The Oscar-winning director continued: “This book is not for general consumption. This is for people who are interested in films, either as moviegoers or [who] want to do this job. Because if you’re going to do this job, you need to understand the job. This is the job.

Further reading

• The Children of Jaws: How Steven Spielberg's shark classic continues to influence modern horror directors and filmmakers

• JAWS fans name 'The Shallows' as greatest shark movie of last 10 years

• How many summer dollars JAWS would make if it was released today

“I’m going to walk you through the experience of making it as a jumping off point to talk about problem solving and process.”

Soderbergh is doing a 'Matt Hooper' though and saying "Don't wait for me", as he has been working on his passion project for the last 15 years, and it may never be completed.

That makes the legendary JAWS filming schedule of 158 days seems like a drop in the ocean, but such a unique and detailed analysis of the film is certainly worth the wait. We just hope it surfaces soon.

Words by Dean Newman

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