‘Jaws’ Is Getting a Late-Summer Theatrical Re-Release for Its 50th Anniversary
The Fourth of July serves as an important backdrop in Steven Spielberg‘s classic 1975 thriller Jaws, but it will be another summer holiday that factors into a theatrical re-release of the film for its 50th anniversary in 2025.
Just when you thought you could put sharks out of your mind and maybe enjoy the beach as summer nears its end, Jaws will be given a weeklong theatrical re-release starting on Labor Day weekend.
Jaws will return to U.S. theaters for one week, from Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, through Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, for its 50th anniversary.
The re-release is still a few months off (and will actually take place after the movie’s official half-century anniversary, on June 20), so no word yet on if it will feature any bells and whistles, as is sometimes the case when older classics like this return to theaters (they are sometimes restored in 4K, etc.).
You’ll probably be able to find theater locations and ticket availability at places like Fandango or your local theater’s website as we get closer to Aug. 29; we’re a bit out as of this writing, so I was not able to buy tickets at this point, but Fandango does have an overview of the re-release.
If you’re a Jaws fan, you’ll want to stay abreast of when tickets go on sale, because it seems like the demand will be great to see this iconic thriller on the large screen.
There may not be crowds at the level seen during the movie’s original release in 1975, like the lines seen in the image at top and the ones below (though then again, there might!), but there will still likely be high interest among many.
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A theater on Hollywood Boulevard during the initial days of Jaws‘ release. Open ’til 4am!
Jaws was Spielberg’s second feature film, and it was, of course, the title that truly put him on the map as a director who could not only artfully helm a film, but also do so to massive popular success (as you can see simply by looking at the crowds in these photos). The adaptation of Peter Benchley‘s bestselling novel about a rogue great white shark terrorizing a New England beach community ultimately became the first U.S. film to gross over $100 million at the box office, with most of its total coming during a summer release that also served to scare many viewers away from beaches that season.
With a terrific cast led by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw, Spielberg’s film wisely jettisoned superfluous plot elements, and the rather abrupt ending, from Benchley’s novel to pare things down into a merciless and entertaining thriller/sea adventure.
It also added elements that really enhanced the horror, as with Quint’s (Shaw) quietly haunting recollection of being aboard the USS Indianapolis, which sticks with a viewer every bit as much as any of the shark attack scenes (this is certainly a case where the movie is a great improvement upon the book).
Jaws was the harbinger of a new blockbuster era; its long lines of eager filmgoers, many of whom saw the film multiple times, showed studios that summertime — before then, considered a largely slow time at theaters — could be big business for movies. And it certainly wasn’t the last time that Spielberg’s name would be attached to a summer blockbuster.
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Folks lined up at an Ann Arbor, Michigan, theater to see Jaws in July 1975
Spielberg, who was just in his late 20s when he made the film, somehow did not receive a Best Director Oscar nomination even though it was his steady creative hand in the midst of technical difficulties that made the film as successfully suspenseful as it is. But the film did win Academy Awards for its sound and editing, and for John Williams‘ iconic musical score — the other major factor that has made the movie an influential and enduring thrill ride, and which helped solidify the director and composer as a memorable creative team more often than not in the decades that would come.
And it should be even more thrilling seeing Jaws again (or for the first time) when it swims back onto the big screen later this summer.
Jaws will return to U.S. theaters for one week, from Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, through Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, for its 50th anniversary.
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