Jaws 3's Original Horror Concept Was Genius (& Why Spielberg Turned It Down)

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Here's why Jaws 3's original horror concept was a much better fit for the franchise — here's why it was dropped and why Steven Spielberg passed on the sequel. The original Jaws was a cultural event upon release in 1975, where it became the original summer blockbuster. While sequels were relatively rare during this era — even for big hits — Univeral was smart enough to know a follow-up was guaranteed to be a success. Steven Spielberg and Richard Dreyfuss were both busy with Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, so they passed on 1978's Jaws 2  — which almost dropped a shark for a squid.

The first two Jaws movies were produced by Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown, who felt the only logical option for another outing would be a parody. To that end, they put a comedy titled Jaws 3, People 0 into development, which was about the madcap production of a thirdJaws that took jabs at both the Hollywood machine and the series itself. Universal ultimately decided against this, feeling it would be a mistake to mock its own property, and after Zanuck and Brown exited the movie, it was decided to make a straightforward horror movie.

Related: Jaws: Rising — The Canceled STV Sequel Explained

Jaws 3D arrived in 1983 and, as the title implies, was initially released in 3D. Franchise star Roy Scheider refused to return as Chief Brody following the miserable production of the second movie, while Dennis Quaid was cast to play Brody's son Mike, who works in SeaWorld Orlando when a 35-foot great white shark arrives to terrorize the tourists. On paper, a Jaws movie set in a marine park should be rife with potential for great setpieces, but Jaws 3D is instead a boring adventure with listless characters. While the sequel was still a hit, it received