Just in time for the film’s golden anniversary, National Geographic has announced JAWS @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story, a 90-minute documentary offering the most comprehensive behind-the-scenes account of Jaws ever produced. ScreenRant is proud to exclusively debut the trailer, poster, and official release date. The film premieres July 10 on National Geographic and streams July 11 on Disney+ and Hulu.Directed by Laurent Bouzereau (Faye, Music by John Williams), Jaws @ 50 is the only authorized documentary tied to the film’s 50th anniversary. With Steven Spielberg’s full participation and blessing, the film is produced by Spielberg's own Amblin Documentaries and Nedland Films, alongside Wendy Benchley (wife of Jaws author Peter Benchley) and Laura Bowling.
Nat Geo's Jaws documentary includes newly recorded reflections from Spielberg who opens up about the infamously difficult shoot that nearly derailed his career - from battling malfunctioning mechanical sharks and harsh weather to suffering post-production PTSD. The film includes never-before-seen footage from Spielberg’s and author Peter Benchley’s personal archives, including rare outtakes and home videos.

Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story includes exclusive interviews with the original cast and crew, listed below, in addition to fellow filmmakers and artists including J.J. Abrams, Emily Blunt, James Cameron, Cameron Crowe, George Lucas, Greg Nicotero, Jordan Peele, Steven Soderbergh, Guillermo del Toro, Robert Zemeckis, and more, who reflect on how Jaws shaped their work and the cinematic landscape.

• John Williams (composer)
• Joe Alves (production designer)
• Lorraine Gary (Ellen Brody)
• Carl Gottlieb (Meadows, screenwriter)
• Jeffrey Kramer (Hendricks)
• Jonathan Filley (Cassidy)
• Jeffrey Voorhees (Alex Kintner)
• Ian Shaw, son of the late Robert Shaw (Quint)

Also featured are Peter Benchley’s family members and prominent shark experts, who help anchor the documentary’s broader environmental message.

Jaws Now Offers A Much-Needed New Lens On Shark Conservation

Jaws @ 50 isn’t just a nostalgic look back for cinephiles. The film also tackles the long-debated "Jaws effect," the global wave of shark fear it unleashed, and reframes it as a legacy of awe and conservation. Featuring insights from Peter Benchley’s family and leading marine scientists like Philippe Cousteau, Candace Fields, Austin Gallagher, Gibbs Kuguru, Dr. John Mandelman (New England Aquarium), Dr. Greg Skomal (Save Our Seas Foundation), and National Geographic Explorer Brian Skerry, the documentary explores how the film ultimately helped inspire real-world conservation efforts to protect sharks.

This message aligns with National Geographic’s educational mission through its long-running SharkFest programming - a series I’ve had the privilege of covering here on ScreenRant, from diving with sharks and meeting world-leading shark biologists to debuting footage of the world’s largest great white.

Glad someone's finally talking about this movie. It's pretty good.

Looks like Hooper is finally getting his name in the National Geographic.

Laurent Bouzereau is one of the best movie documentary filmmakers. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, he produced and directed many special features and many were feature length over the last few decades. I’ll absolutely check this out.

I thought The Shark is Still Working was about as comprehensive as it could get (and super interesting). What more could there possibly be?

Same director. This will be more of a retrospective documentary, reflecting on the legacy of the film by thise involved and others who were inspired.

I came to basically post the same thing. Between the supplements and interviews already on the disc releases, that documentary, and the Memories from Martha's Vineyard book, I can't think of anything they could possibly tell us that hasn't already been said by now! I guess there's appeal in Spielberg blessing the project, but that's about it. Certainly, he was there for all of the DVD/etc. interviews.

When are we getting "Jumping the Shark"?

Even if it's largely already covered territory, this looks great. Didn't know Laurent was still working but that's just fantastic to hear. There's another big anniversary in a couple of years, hopefully we'll get something similar.(or bigger!)

Would you say they're treading water at this point?

I'll see myself out.

Jaws? Never heard of it.

A little OT but is Jaws really not getting a theatrical rerelease for it's 50th anniversary?

Why would Hollywood do something that makes sense?

We need all 20 screens for the same 5 movies that have been playing for weeks and the one new one.

Seems like Jaws gets re-released every Summer for "Flashback" movie season. It was last year for sure. I haven't looked it up for this year.

I thought it was. Not until August/Sept. but I can’t recall where I read that.

Dang. It's the perfect Summer movie. August/Sept is too late.

I've never seen it on the big screen so I was really hoping for some big release. But I guess Universal is too focused on Jurassic World.

Xscape Theater's Flashback Summer Schedule; no Jaws. On the plus side, The Muppet Movie? Cool. Over at AMC they have Shrek and Cinemark has Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, Spinal Tap, Cuckoo's Nest, Ariretty, Totoro (and more Ghibli), Shrek 2, Lego Batman and Into the Spiderverse.

I seem to recall a 3D release in the summer of 2023, and I wondered why they didn't wait two more years for the 50th.

I'm almost positive it's getting a re-release Labor Day weekend.

Shouldn't we have heard about it by now? It was released in June. I get not wanting to eat into other movie's but I really don't think it would cannibalize ticket sales from the movies that are coming out now.

That is correct.

https://collider.com/jaws-50th-anniv...tin%2C%20Texas.

You can watch it on NBC for 3 hours with ads this Friday or just watch that and the 3 other movies on Peacock.

It will be cut off here if the Giants game runs late.


https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/ste...bc-1236429107/

Happy Birthday Jaws!

Released today, 50 years ago. June 20th 1975.

If you own Jaws on digital, it looks like this new documentary was added to it.

Cool, I don't have to wait until the 10th.

Sure enough. That's a sweet extra bonus.