The initial director assigned to Jaws was Dick Richards, not Steven Spielberg. He was let off because he kept referring to the shark as the whale. ¹⁾

Elmer, Brody's dog in Jaws, was Steven Spielberg's dog. ²⁾

Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws, appeared in the film as a news reporter on the beach. ³⁾

Bruce Ramer, Steven Spielberg's lawyer, inspired the name of the mechanical shark. ⁴⁾

The initial filming schedule for Jaws was 58 days, but it was increased to 159 days. ⁵⁾

Jaws had four Academy Award nominations. It took home three awards for outstanding music, sound, and editing. It did not win the Academy Award for Best Picture. ⁶⁾

When composer John Williams originally performed the basic E-F-E-F Jaws motif on the piano, Spielberg believed he was joking. ⁷⁾

It is estiamted that more than 67 million Americans viewed it when it first came out. ⁸⁾

Jaws swam passed the magical $100 million threshold in just 38 days. ⁹⁾

The Ben Gardner head scene was a late addition to the film and was shot in the swimming pool of editor Verna Fields. ¹⁰⁾

Martha's Vineyard was the fictitious town of Amity Island. ¹¹⁾

Martha's Vineyard residents were paid $64 apiece to run up and down the beach during the shark attack scene as extras. ¹²⁾

The Orca was a repurposed Nova Scotia fishing boat known as the 'Warlock'. ¹³⁾

Roy Scheider knocked Joe Alves out as he was stabbing some styrofoam (in place of the shark during the final battle). ¹⁴⁾

Producers David Brown and Richard Zanuck spent $175,000 for the film rights to Jaws writer Peter Benchley's book before it was released! ¹⁵⁾