Jaws is a 1975 American film directed by
Steven Spielberg and based on
Peter Benchley's 1974 novel
of the same name. The prototypical summer
blockbuster, its release is regarded as a watershed moment in motion picture history. In the story, a giant
man-eating great white shark attacks beachgoers on Amity Island, a fictional New England summer
resort town, prompting the local police chief to hunt it with the help of a
marine biologist and a professional shark hunter. The film stars
Roy Scheider as police chief
Martin Brody,
Richard Dreyfuss as oceanographer Matt Hooper,
Robert Shaw as shark hunter Quint,
Murray Hamilton as Larry Vaughn, the mayor of Amity Island, and
Lorraine Gary as Brody's wife, Ellen. The screenplay is credited to both Benchley, who wrote the first drafts, and actor-writer
Carl Gottlieb, who rewrote the script during
principal photography.