Celebrate 50 years of 'Jaws' at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
The seminal film that made everyone afraid of going swimming turns 50 this year. ‘Jaws’ is a beloved classic, based on the book by Peter Benchley, which was then turned into a film by Steven Spielberg and well… The rest is history. To commemorate the anniversary, The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures presents “Jaws: The Exhibition.” The press release has all the juicy details…
“The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announced on the 97th Oscars® telecast that it will present Jaws: The Exhibition, on view September 14, 2025–July 26, 2026. The exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s film, a culture-defining thriller that continues to be a fixture in popular culture. This is the first-ever exhibition of this scale at the Academy Museum focused exclusively on a single film, and the largest mounted exhibition ever for Jaws (1975), the Oscar®-winning film from Universal Pictures. The exhibition will feature over 200 original objects—including concept illustrations by production designer Joe Alves, a costume worn by Roy Scheider as Brody, original shark design schematics by design engineer Frank Wurmser, and a screen used prop dorsal fin—plus behind-the-scenes revelations and interactive moments. Jaws: The Exhibition will illustrate how the film became the first summer blockbuster that forever changed the motion picture industry. Tickets for Jaws: The Exhibition are available to purchase now.”
“Curated with direct access to the collections from Steven Spielberg and The Amblin Hearth Archive, NBCUniversal Archives & Collections, and more, Jaws: The Exhibition has visitors step into the world of the iconic film, scene-by-scene, as it translates the movie into a spatial experience for all-ages audiences.”
“As an institution both devoted to and deeply enshrined within the film industry, the Academy Museum can combine deep, rigorous, and fulfilling research with exciting moments of interactivity and discovery for our audiences, allowing them to experience this beloved film and enduring story in a brand-new way,” said Academy Museum Director and President Amy Homma.
“After 50 years, many of the accounts about the production of Jaws are as well-known as the film itself. This exhibition uncovers the film’s multilayered mythologies and lore for both new and seasoned fans,” said Senior Exhibitions Curator Jenny He. “It’s fascinating to think that Jaws was Steven Spielberg’s second theatrical feature film—the movie is a testament to the storied filmmaker’s early success as a tenacious visionary pushing creative boundaries.”
The Academy Museum has been home to the sole surviving full-scale model of the shark from Jaws since the museum’s opening in 2021. At 25-feet-long, “Bruce the Shark” is the largest object in the Academy’s collection and currently hangs outside of the museum’s 4th floor exhibition space where it will remain on-view during the exhibition.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a dynamic series of film screenings, exclusive new merchandise, and public programs to be announced at a later date.
