Steven Spielberg reveals ‘one of the bad things' that came from ‘Jaws' success: ‘Horrified'
In the new National Geographic documentary 'Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story,' Steven Spielberg spoke about how the success of his 1975 shark movie was harmful to marine life.
'One of the bad things that came out of the film was shark hunting spiked,' the 78-year-old director shared.
8 Steven Spielberg during an interview for 'Jaws @ 50.'
National Geographic/Chris Johnson
Executive producer and ocean conservationist advocate Wendy Benchley added: 'When Jaws came out, we were truly horrified to see that some people took it as license to go kill sharks.'
'The negative reaction hurt us and horrified us and we became passionate defenders with sharks,' said Wendy, the widow of 'Jaws' author Peter Benchley. 'We went with the National Geographic on expeditions and we were so fortunate to learn from these scientists and other experts.'
8 Steven Spielberg films the mechanical shark on the set of 'Jaws.'
Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC
8 Steven Spielberg, Bill Butler, and crew on the set of 'Jaws' in 1974.
Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC
Cynthia Wigren, CEO and co-founder of Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, explained that trophy hunting became 'very popular' after 'Jaws' debuted, leading to the white shark population decreasing by as much as 80 percent.
8 Steven Spielberg on the set of 'Jaws.'
Corbis via Getty Images
'People wanted to be like Quint,' Dr. Austin Gallagher, shark expert and chief scientist of Beneath The Waves, said about the shark-hunting captain played by Robert Shaw in the film.
'People wanted to have that trophy that they could show off,' Dr. Gallagher added.
8 Wendy Benchley, 'Jaws @ 50' executive producer and ocean conservationist advocate.
National Geographic/Chris Johnson
8 Steven Spielberg and 'Jaws @ 50' director Laurent Bouzereau.
National Geographic/Chris Johnson
Shark conservation biologist Candace Fields agreed there was 'a negative connotation that came from 'Jaws' about sharks.'
'Which is very unfortunate,' Fields noted, 'because I think there's other takeaways as well.'
In an exclusive interview with The Post, Wendy noted that the terror on shark life has significantly subsided in the 50 years since 'Jaws' premiered.
8 A crew member works on the mechanical shark on the set of 'Jaws.'
Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC
'Shark hunting barely exists anymore,' she stated. 'It's mainly catching sharks for shark fin soup and that's been happening for honestly hundreds of years, but really expanded in the last 40 years when there was a huge population increase in China and other Asian countries.'
'So I've been working, and Peter worked, with many groups, and especially with WildAid, who has done an excellent job in China educating the Chinese who want to be good citizens,' Wendy continued. 'And when they realized that shark fin soup was actually killing the sharks, and a hundred million sharks were killed every year for shark fin soup, they listened. And the demand for shark fin soup has gone down 80 percent in China. So that's a wonderful thing.'
8 Steven Spielberg on the set of 'Jaws' in 1974.
Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC
Wendy also gave a shoutout to Jackie Chan, Yao Ming and Maggie Q for their involvement with WildAid 'to really help with that particular issue.'
'Peter died in '06 and I wish he were here now to be able to see all of these changes and to see 'Jaws' is still relevant after 50 years,' Wendy said in the documentary. 'I think he'd be very pleased.'
'Jaws @ 50' premieres Thursday on National Geographic and will stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
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