For 50 years, audiences all over the world have watched and marveled at the brilliance of Jaws. It’s long been one of the true masterpieces in the history of movies and, starting next week, you’ll get to experience it in a way you never have before: by actually being in its presence. On September 14, the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, CA, is opening “Jaws: The Exhibition,” an unprecedented collection of over 200 items from the development, production, and release of the Steven Spielberg classic. And if you consider yourself a fan, you will not be able to contain your joy and amazement at what it entails.
io9 was invited to a press preview of the exhibit, which included opening remarks from Academy president Amy Homma, exhibit curator Jenny He, and Spielberg himself. The director regaled the audience with some stories from the making of the film (many of which are told in an equally excellent documentary released this year), but he also spoke of his amazement at what the exhibit actually had in store.
Spielberg spoke of “a collection of memories stimulated just in the last hour and a half by walking through the exhibition that they have so ingeniously assembled from the archives of collectors all over the world.”
These collectors “somehow knew something that I didn’t know,” the director continued. “I mean, why wouldn’t anybody… when we shot the opening scene of Chrissie Watkins being taken by the shark, and we had a buoy floating in the water, how did anybody know to take the buoy and take it home and sit on it for 50 years and then loan it to the Academy? How did they know? I didn’t know. I thought my career was virtually over halfway through production on Jaws.”
Well, you knew a little bit, Steven. Because, while yes, the buoy and much more were donated by private collectors, the exhibit is filled with pieces from Spielberg’s collection too. The exhibit has screen-used barrels from the Orca. It has the main character’s actual costumes. It has Hooper’s backpack, Quint’s beer, the shark cage, the spear, and Ben Gardner’s head. All original props that appear in the movie itself. Some are from private collectors, some are from the studio, and others are from Spielberg, but for all of them, being that close to something you’ve watched in a movie so many times is almost indescribable.
Here are a few of our favorite screen-used props from the exhibit. Click on each image to see it larger.
But that’s not all. Those props are spread across the multi-room space, which takes up the entire fourth floor of the museum and follows the narrative of the film as its structure. You enter through the seaweed of the opening credits and emerge on the beach. There, props and stories about the making of the opening greet you. Next, there’s Chief Brody’s house and objects from the town of Amity Island, all the way through the story of the film, culminating in a room with props from the Orca, a mechanical shark, and more.
Along the way, not only are there props, but there are also behind-the-scenes photos, script pages, concept art, and so much more. Plus, there are some super fun interactive things too. You can pose your arm to make it look like it was found chomped up on a beach. You can sit in the depths of the Orca and talk about scars. In the John Williams section, complete with some of the actual items he used during the writing and recording of the score, there’s a keyboard that shows you how to play his iconic theme. You can control a mechanical shark, and there’s even a place for you to do your own dolly zoom shot.
Using a QR code to access a webpage (see it here), you place your phone in the exhibit, and an employee gives you a dolly zoom, which you can then download on your phone. Here are a few highlights
Once you get through the film’s narrative, a room celebrates the legacy of Jaws since its release, with tickets from its premiere, all manner of merchandise, posters, and so much more. It’s not as extensive as other parts of the exhibit, but it’s a fond reminder of how the film has endured over the years. Be sure to make a stop in the gift shop before you leave, because there’s plenty of Jaws stuff for sale there too. Here’s a peek at some of that and just general signage.
As a massive fan of Jaws (and, really, who isn’t?), it was magical to stand in these spaces and look at the actual props and costumes from such an iconic movie. I’ve seen that arcade machine or that machete a million times watching Jaws. And now, I’m standing two feet from the same thing. It’s pretty fantastic.
“The fact that now, 51 years after the production and 50 years after it was released, people have a chance between now and July to come here to the Academy Museum and live for the first time some of the experiences I’m trying to relive for you here, I’m just so proud of the work they’ve done,” Spielberg said. “What they’ve put together here, this exhibition, is just awesome. Every room has the minutiae of how this picture got together and proves that this motion picture industry is really, truly a collaborative art form.”
“Jaws: The Exhibition” will be on display starting September 14 and will run through July 26, 2026. The museum has also announced that it has begun work on a retrospective covering Spielberg’s entire career that’s opening in 2028. And while that’s extremely exciting, and Spielberg has certainly made many incredible, unforgettable movies, I’m not sure anything will ever be as enduring as Jaws.
For more on the exhibit and museum, visit the Academy Museum website.
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