The only surviving model of the Jaws shark has been installed at the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Released in 1975 and directed by a prodigious young filmmaker by the name of Steven Spielberg, Jaws centers on the hunt for a man-eating great white shark terrorizing the fictional beach town of Amity Island. The film has become one of the most popular movies in cinema history, not just because it was the highest-grossing film ever at the time but because it also set the summer blockbuster template of heavy promotion and a wide release to thousands of theaters simultaneously. Jaws minted Spielberg as one of Hollywood's most influential filmmakers and has remained a subject of intense fascination for 45 years now.
Much of that fascination focuses on Jaws's production, which is considered among the most calamitous film shoots ever. Many accounts focus on Spielberg's inexperience at the time and the crew's distrust of him, with disgruntled crew members mockingly calling the movie "Flaws." Arguably the most famous stories focus on the tremendous logistical nightmare of filming on the ocean, which caused cameras to get water damage and actors to get seasick frequently. Spielberg's insistence on using mechanical sharks (which he cheekily named "Bruce" after his lawyer) also led to three of the models being destroyed or just downright sinking into the ocean.
The fourth and final Jaws model that survived has now been installed in the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. After surviving at a Hollywood junkyard for decades, several prosthetists and special effects artists restored the fiberglass model of Bruce, which is the largest object in the museum's entire collection and will be suspended above the museum floor for visitors to see. The Jaws shark was so giant it couldn't fit in the elevators and had to be craned into the museum instead. Follow Bruce's journey into the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures via the images and video below:
Set to open on April 30, 2021, following multiple delays, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will feature more memorabilia from Jaws and Jaws II, including an underwater apparatus and large-sized shark fin. Other historic Hollywood objects on display include Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, a spacesuit worn in 2001: A Space Odyssey. More recently, the May Queen dress from Midsommar.
Though the delays have been frustrating, the museum will likely be worth waiting for any cinephile, as the 300,000 square foot facility truly looks to be the first curator and presenter of movie history's most precious relics. Any Jaws fan who gazes up at the 25-foot long Bruce hovering over them will be looking directly into the past at one of the most infamous yet ultimately rewarding film productions ever. There's always pleasure in watching a Hollywood classic for the hundredth time, but getting an in-person look at an object you've seen on screen your whole life will likely make subsequent viewings of that classic all the more enriching.
Source: Bloody Disgusting
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