George Lucas Knew Jaws Would Be a Massive Hit Before Steven Spielberg Did
Lucas knew the Force was strong with his filmmaking buddy.
If George Lucas — you know, just the guy who created one of the most successful and iconic multimedia franchises of all time — says your project is going to be a hit, then you're probably in pretty good shape.
While a 26-year-old Steven Spielberg came to fear for his professional future while struggling to finish production on Jaws (now streaming on Peacock!) half a century ago, Lucas, the future Star Wars mastermind, was already predicting its ascendancy to cultural phenomenon. Mind you, this was before the shark animatronic — lovingly dubbed "Bruce" after Spielberg's longtime attorney, Bruce Ramer — was even finished!
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George Lucas knew Jaws would be a hit before the shark animatronic was even done
"It was obvious it was gonna be a big hit," Lucas, who later teamed up with Spielberg to create the Indiana Jones franchise, recalls in Laurent Bouzereau's Jaws @ 50 documentary (set to premiere next month from National Geographic).
"George looked at the shark and said, 'Wow, this is gonna be the most successful movie ever made,'" adds Spielberg.
How Steven Spielberg and George Lucas supported each other's box office triumphs
And George was right! Upon its theatrical release in the summer of 1975, Jaws became the highest-grossing film of all time up to that point. It was only unseated two years later when Lucas introduced audiences to the galaxy far, far away, prompting Spielberg to congratulate his friend with a full-page Variety ad that showed R2-D2 sinking a hook into the great white shark's teeth.
"Dear George," it read, "Last week Star Wars moved ahead of Jaws in domestic film rentals. Your hyperspace performance package really did the trick. Congratulations to the Cantina crowd and all the forces of your imagination that made Star Wars so worthy of the throne. Wear it well."
When E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial overtook Star Wars five years later, Lucas responded in kind with an ad that showed the cosmic castaway being celebrated by Luke, Han, Leia, Darth Vader, R2-D2, C-3PO, Yoda, and...a Jawa for some reason.
"Dear Steven," he wrote, "Congratulations to you and your Extra-Terrestrial buddy. This week E.T. moved ahead of Star Wars to take first place in domestic film rentals. E.T.'s adventure on Earth and his gift of intergalactic friendship continues to touch us all. May the Force be with you."
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Spielberg, of course, tipped his cap to Star Wars in E.T. with the inclusion of a Yoda mask during the film's Halloween sequence. When E.T. sees the face of the wizened Jedi Master, he suddenly exclaims "Home!" and tries to walk away from Elliott, Gertie, and Mike. Lucas took the gag to its logical conclusion in The Phantom Menace over a decade later by showing that members of E.T.'s race are part of the Galactic Senate.
All four Jaws movies are now streaming on Peacock for the whole summer. In the meantime, you can rent and/or purchase them from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, along with a special 50th Anniversary edition of Jaws.
