Pretty much everyone who knows me, knows that Jaws is my favourite movie. As such, I get asked a lot about a Jaws remake. How would I feel about it? Who would I cast? Would CGI bug me? Oftentimes they ask me this because they think it will set me off and occasionally, it does send me into a (usually wine fuelled) rant. As time goes by though I've accepted that at some point it may happen. Spielberg has said he'll never remake it which is encouraging but Universal own the rights so who knows? I mean the mighty King Kong has been remade a few times now and even if they don't just flat out remake Jaws they'll probably update it Jurassic World style. More and more movies are becoming less and less sacred so it may just be a matter of time. But truth be told, even with this wretched scenario as a backdrop I can talk Jaws all day so... let's.
How Would I Feel About A Remake?
Irritated but not surprised. I'd be more worried about further damage done to the legacy. The sequels have somewhat soiled the nest so a remake could be catastrophic. Why? Well, there are fundamental problems with a Jaws remake beyond scripts and actors. Two problems a remake would face is knowledge and over exposure. We know so much about sharks now. Shark Week and the BBC are responsible for some magnificent documentaries and every tourist who decides to get in a cage to see these majestic creatures up close and post it online, every time that happens the mystique is lessened. You see 41 years ago when Jaws hit the cinemas, we knew very little about great white sharks. There was one excellent book out called "Blue Meridian: The Search for the Great White Shark" but not everyone had read it. There were famous photos of people who had been attacked and survived, Rodney Fox and his 460 stitches (see below) was probably more known than Blue Meridian. And people just love the idea of a sea monster. The fact that these "monsters" existed was a bonus. Benchley's novel was a hit and the movie was the biggest movie of all time for a while there.
So let's just say the Jaws remake happens and Quint takes his rifle and shoots the shark as it swims past the boat. Hooper's line is "Quint don't waste your time" right? Well, actually, we now know that sharks (even large ones) are not immune to gun shot wounds and if by some miracle the fish had survived Quint's rifle, Brody's bullets later on would surely have finished it off. There's a line in Jaws 2 "sharks don't take things personally Mr. Brody" and again with all the knowledge we have about sharks now, how do you go about selling this shark coming back time and again to attack the Orca (Quint's boat). We're all shark savvy now, it wouldn't play well with younger audiences especially those of a "Shark Tale" disposition. The reason Jaws got away with it back then was because we just didn't know any better and the reason it gets away with it today is because the movie is so fucking wonderful at getting you fully invested in the characters and the story that you just forget that this just wouldn't happen... Would a remake get you so invested? Unlikely.
Special FX
The giant turd Bruce the shark, named after Spielberg's lawyer, just didn't work anything like as well as it was meant to but as we all know by now this worked in the movie's favour. It forced the guys to come up with more inventive ideas to make you believe the shark was there and supported by John Williams pulsating and terrifying score this brought near unbearable levels of nerve shredding suspense. A remake in the current climate would have to include a CGI shark. A few years ago this would have bothered me but having seen the incredible work done by the FX team in charge of the whale in Ron Howard's underrated "In The Heart of the Sea" I'd have to say that a CGI shark would be fine. But then we get into the ease of the creation becoming a problem. Jaws worked in spite of itself. Everything on the shoot was hard. It pushed the crew to limits they never knew they had. I have no doubt that a remake of Jaws would become a shark heavy, attack fest. What we gained in character development in Jaws would, most likely, be lost in a sea of monster moments.
Who Would I Cast?
Uncastable!!! It's not that there aren't good actors out there who could do the a good job with these characters, it's just the chemistry produced by Scheider, Shaw and Dreyfuss in the second half of the movie is palpable. Shaw famously gave Dreyfuss a torrid time on set. Did this come across on screen? You fuckin' bet your ass it did...
Did that stop Dreyfuss from thinking Shaw was a god? No. Did that come across on screen? You fuckin' bet your ass it did...
By the way if you ever get a chance to watch "The Making of Jaws" take it. It's a completely absorbing documentary and Dreyfuss is a joy to listen to. I'd say he's dined out on Jaws almost every day since it hit cinemas, deservedly so too I'd have to say.
These days actors are a lot more precious. There's just no way this movie would be made in this way today. Could three guys find the same level of connection? Again, unlikely. Still, if it had to happen I'd go Kyle Chandler for Brody. For Hooper I'd go Joseph Gordon Levitt and for Quint I'd go Kurt Russell. I can't really see Russell giving JGL any shit on set as he's apparently a complete delight but he does rugged and tough very well. These three guys are all accomplished actors. Russell has starred in some of the very best movies we'll ever see and his range is unquestionable. He's probably more talented than Robert Shaw was but I just can't get past Shaw for Quint. That nails on a chalkboard introduction might be the coolest movie entrance of all time and his Indianapolis speech is the best five minutes of cinema I've ever witnessed. Quint is Shaw, Shaw is Quint. Listen, The Taking Of Pelham 123 (directed by Joseph Sargent who also directed the terrible Jaws: The Revenge) is a fine movie and Shaw is great in it but when I hear the name Robert Shaw, Quint dominates my thoughts. No matter who got this role, they'd be up against it. Russell would ease the pain though.
As for Joseph Gordon Levitt as Hooper. It really is harder to cast Hooper than you'd think. Hooper's main characteristics: he's cleverer than the other two. He's charming and he's funny. But crucially, he's tougher than Brody and Quint believed. "Bring another barrel, I'm coming around again" he screams as they attack the shark. Then there's the immortal line, "you got any better suggestions?" just before he goes down to face the shark in his cage. I don't think for one second that JGL could produce a performance as effective as Dreyfuss but if it's funny, charming with a gritty layer underneath I think he's the best we've got. The Liam Hemsworth's of the world are fucking miles away from being able to pull this off.
Oddly enough, as much as I love Brody and feel Scheider absolutely nailed the role, I'd be confident that Kyle Chandler's "ordinary family man in extraordinary situation" effort from Super 8 proves he could pull this off quite easily. I mean look at him, he may as well be wearing a "you're gonna need a bigger boat" t shirt. He's gruff, tough but loves his family. There really couldn't be anyone else for Brody.
Writer, Director, Editor, DP
Just thinking about this is making my eye twitch with anger but for the purposes of this blog, I'll play. I'm going to try to balance between wishful thinking (which is odd for a project I hope never sees the light of day) and realistic...
Writing this would be a huge burden. Fans of the movie would know enough to not want to do it. But who knows, maybe Drew Goddard would take a pass at it. That'd be my go to guy. He wrote a fine script in Cloverfield which, as you know, is a monster movie with limited monster visuals (just like Jaws). With The Cabin in the Woods he showed he can do horror with a dose of cheeky humour and he can do tense and likable which he absolutely perfected with The Martian. Daredevil was also a dose of genre bending brilliance and showed real dynamism.
Director? My fear would be McG or some fucking upstart like him. McG has never made anything but garbage. Bryan Singer might feel protective enough to rescue a Jaws remake. Jaws is his favourite movie but I suspect he loves it too much and knows better than to take it on. JJ Abrams is just wishful thinking. That man has nothing to prove and would be too smart to go here. So who then? I really liked Godzilla and the fact that they didn't oversell the monster in that one. Gareth Edwards would probably be the best we could hope for. He and Goddard would be a decent team to throw together.
Editor? One of the things casual observers miss about Jaws is just how perfectly edited the picture is. The Academy didn't miss it though and rightly gave Verna Fields an Oscar for her astounding work. A simple example of her genius is the amazing scene where the shark basically eyeballs Brody right after he throws some chum out to sea...
You get maybe two seconds of shark on the original breach of water. It's plenty. Any more and you'd have seen too much and the effect would have been diminished. The simple cut of Brody walking back into the relative sanctuary of the boat to the next cut where we see Quint in the foreground as Brody walks in where he delivers cinemas greatest line... it's a fucking master class of timing and delivery by all concerned. Scheider is wonderful here, Fields (affectionately known on set as Mother Cutter) must have been on cloud nine putting this all together. There's a lot of talent out there that could do a decent job of editing. Michael Kahn would be ideal but I suspect he'd pass. He does work with Spielberg after all. Pietro Scalia would be solid enough.
As for Director of Photography, again I think we're struggling to find anyone to match the genius of Bill Butler. Much of Jaws is shot at water level (which is why I think it would be a stunning 3D IMAX experience) and Butler was basically inventing cameras to continue to shoot this way. He deserves as much credit as anyone for how terrifying the movie is. DP's are tough, my heart says Dean Cundey but my head says Jeff Cronenweth as he is the best in the business right now.
Score
Obviously Williams would be the dream candidate but I suspect he'd be paid for the use of his theme and someone else would be hired to "update" it. Hans Zimmer, you'd have to think, would have too much love for film to do this. My choice would be Alan Silvestri but again he'd probably be above all this. Thomas Newman would be well able for it too. The thing is, the score has been done by Williams and no matter what brilliance is put into this movie it would be dominated by "that" theme. But then Newman has done a great job with the recent Bond movies. They also have classic themes and Newman's work, while excellent, is never intrusive.
So there it is. There's the blue print for some great white death. Some excellent names it must be said and if these people all came together to make an original creature feature, then I'd be first in line to buy a ticket. As previously stated, I believe this is only a matter of time. Jaws is a property that can make money. If a movie is made to target teenagers who have never seen Jaws, then there's huge potential for a big opening weekend and as much as I hate to say it, it may even entertain its audience. The rest of us would probably feel a little repulsed though. Look at the list of remakes from that era that have been awful... There's just no way a remake could reel us in (ahem) the way the original did. "But Graham, isn't there a chance it could be as good as the original?" No, not even a little chance.
Farewell and adieu,
G.
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