Jaws Sequels: The Only One Worth Watching Was Altered Mid-Shooting!

When Hollywood produces a hit, it typically seeks to capitalize on it. Following the massive success of Steven Spielberg’s shark thriller “Jaws” in 1975, a sequel was swiftly greenlit.

Richard D. Zanuck, the producer of the original movie, selected John D. Hancock to direct the sequel. Hancock, who had written and directed the obscure 1971 horror film “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death,” a dark-themed story about mental alienation, caught Zanuck’s interest. Hancock shared his experiences on the podcast The Daily Jaws (via Collider).

Brody’s Haunting

Upon his arrival, Hancock found that Howard Sackler had already written a preliminary draft of the script, which Hancock considered “horrible.” Eventually, he brought on his wife, Dorothy Tristan, to write the script after unsuccessful attempts to hire more experienced writers like Nancy Dowd, Edward Anhalt, and David Rabe. Universal approved Tristan’s version, which focused on the traumatic impact of the events from the first film on the residents of Amity Island. The local economy was suffering, Sheriff Brody was haunted by the deaths that occurred under his watch, the community was depressed, and the municipality was in debt. Visually, Hancock envisioned the film as “desaturated,” less colorful than the Technicolor of the original movie.

Fired After One Month of Filming

Casting took months, and the shooting was delayed because Richard Zanuck did not want to rehire Robert A. Mattey, the man behind the mechanical shark that caused numerous problems in the first film. However, Sidney Sheinberg, president of Universal, insisted on his involvement. Hancock sided with Zanuck, believing that Mattey was unwilling to work with the existing shark and was complicating the machinery even further. The shoot finally commenced under Hancock’s direction and lasted three to four weeks until a private jet landed in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, with Sheinberg on board. That evening, Zanuck and David Brown, the other producer, informed Hancock of his termination.

Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Hancock believed the studio’s sudden fear stemmed partly from Verna Fields, the Oscar-winning editor of the original “Jaws” who had since become a vice-president at Universal. She felt she should have directed “Jaws 2,” but Zanuck had denied her this opportunity. Hancock claimed that Fields started rumors that the daily footage was nearly unusable and that even she could not edit it effectively. “The studio lost confidence,” he reflected.

After Hancock’s removal, Universal offered the film to Fields, but the Director’s Guild denied this move because a studio executive cannot take over a film from a Guild member. To appease the Guild, Universal officially hired Jeannot Szwarc, while allowing Fields to direct behind the scenes.

Moreover, the ongoing conflict between Sheinberg and Zanuck, dating back to the original “Jaws” three years earlier, placed Hancock in a difficult position with the decision-makers of his film. Being personally friendly with Zanuck made it even harder for him to choose sides.

Hancock’s departure also led to the replacement of Tegan West and Ricky Schroder, who were set to play Brody’s children, as well as Dana Elcar, who was to play Len Peterson. In Tristan’s darker and more indebted version, Peterson was involved with the mafia, but under Szwarc, the character was transformed into a potential love interest for Ellen Brody. Additionally, Dorothy Tristan received no credit for the script.

An Unprecedented Budget for Universal

With the reshooting of new scenes and discarding the footage shot by Hancock over the month, the budget of “Jaws 2” ballooned to 30 million dollars, making it the most expensive film ever released by Universal at that time.

The original screenplay by Sackler and Tristan, which was quite different from the completed film, was eventually turned into a novel by Hank Searls and published in April 1978, about two months before the release of Jeannot Szwarc’s movie. When it hit the screens, “Jaws 2” garnered $77.7 million domestically, a respectable figure but far from the original’s $260 million. It ranked as the sixth highest-grossing film in the U.S. box office for 1978.