Jaws Returns to Netflix in September 2026

Before 1975, most movies had gradual releases. They usually opened in big cities first like New York and Los Angeles. Distributors relied on word of mouth to build an audience as a movie expanded into more theaters. Summer was considered the dead season for films. Conventional wisdom held that people enjoyed outdoor summer activities and nobody wanted to spend free time inside between May and September. Major movies generally debuted during the holiday season.

That changed with the release of one film that remains a classic and is available to stream on Netflix.

Jaws follows a great white shark terrorizing a small New England beach town named Amity Island. After a young woman is killed, Police Chief Martin Brody, a transplant from New York City, wants to close the beaches. The mayor, played by Murray Hamilton, resists this decision to avoid causing a panic and losing revenue from tourists.

Additional attacks trigger widespread panic. This brings marine biologist Matt Hooper, played by Richard Dreyfuss, to town to help track the creature. Brody and Hooper eventually enlist Amity Island shark hunter Quint, played by Robert Shaw, to destroy the animal.

Jaws endured a troubled production. Universal gave promising young director Steven Spielberg $3.5 million to adapt Peter Benchley’s best-selling 1974 novel about a killer shark. Mechanical failures with the artificial shark and difficult open-ocean filming ballooned the budget to $9 million. While modest by modern blockbuster standards, that sum was enormous at the time. Spielberg went so over budget and behind schedule that he feared his directing career was finished.

The malfunctioning shark forced Spielberg to adopt a restrained approach that improved the film. He used the mechanical shark sparingly, which heightened suspense prior to attacks. The opening scene where the shark kills a swimmer in the ocean was originally scripted to show the creature clearly, but the obscured version proved far more terrifying. This restraint culminates in the finale when the three heroes confront the shark on the open water and reveal its massive form.

How Jaws changed Hollywood

Once production finished, Universal recognized its potential hit. Because production delays caused Jaws to miss its planned December 1974 release, the premiere moved to June. To prevent summer failure, Universal launched an unprecedented $700,000 marketing blitz and made the unusual choice to open the movie nationwide across 409 screens.

That choice transformed the film industry. In its first 10 days, Jaws grossed over $21 million and finished its theatrical run with over $260 million. Two years later, the blockbuster success of Star Wars proved the strategy was no fluke. Since then, major studio releases have consistently targeted the summer window with wide, simultaneous distribution.

Jaws remains an enduringly effective film. The sparse use of the shark sustains tension that builds toward the final confrontation aboard Quint’s fishing boat. Spielberg’s story succeeds through three distinct lead characters. Brody is complex and conflicted, Dreyfuss brings humor and earnestness as Hooper, and Shaw delivers an entertaining, grizzled performance as Quint. One standout scene involves the three men drinking and comparing scars, offering character development detached from the immediate hunt. The final showdown on the open ocean elevates the story into an unforgettable cinematic experience.

For all these reasons, Jaws remains a thrilling, tense, and entertaining movie that holds up as well today as it did in 1975. It is a timeless thriller that rewards repeated viewings, and it is easily accessible for anyone with a Netflix subscription.

Jaws is available to stream on Netflix.

Source: Polygon