Steven Spielberg’s secret agreement that changed the course of history: “I’m going to let you make the call”
The troubled production of Jaws has become the stuff of Hollywood legend. Its 26-year-old director, Steven Spielberg, was constantly worried he was about to be fired thanks to the film’s endless delays and budget overruns. The cast and crew were often fatigued, sunburned, and seasick, while the centrepiece of the film, a mechanical shark named Bruce, refused to work properly.
It was a hellish production that always seemed to be on the brink of sinking into the briny deep. In fact, at one point, Universal CEO Sid Sheinberg even visited Spielberg on the set to propose a secret arrangement that would eventually change the course of movie history.
When Sheinberg sat a frazzled Spielberg down on the steps of the Martha’s Vineyard hotel where the Jaws crew was holed up, the young director was shocked by the unexpected proposition the movie mogul made. Sheinberg admitted, “Look, this is a disaster. I don’t know what to do, except we could pull the plug right now. We could take our losses.” In this scenario, Sheinberg suggested everyone return to LA and never speak of Jaws again. He even theorised that Universal could scrape some small amount of money back by adding Bruce the shark to the Universal Studios backlot tour.
Amazingly, Sheinberg wasn’t just giving the studio an out. He was also giving Spielberg an exit route that wouldn’t negatively affect his burgeoning career. He proposed, “You can fold up shop right now, and nobody will replace you. You won’t be fired. I will simply cancel the entire production because this may be impossible. This may be the one film that’s impossible to make.”
The idea of any studio head accepting that a movie he’d already sunk millions into was impossible to pull off is stunning in and of itself. However, the fact that Sheinberg also wanted to protect his young director is hugely admirable. After all, he was worried Spielberg may have been in over his head and wanted to save the filmmaker form drowning on the set of his own movie.
Sheinberg then suggested a secret agreement that would change movie history. Instead of deciding for Spielberg, he would let the director choose how the multi-million dollar production would move forward. Sheinberg said, “I’m going to let you make the call.” However, he assured Spielberg, “I’ll back you a hundred per cent” if the director still believed he could pull off the seemingly impossible task of making Jaws.
The rest, of course, is history. Spielberg was grateful for Sheinberg’s gesture, but he did believe the movie could be accomplished, so he forged ahead. He would work hard to deliver a movie that would change movie history forever. Ironically, the two things that caused the most issues for Spielberg, his cast, and his crew turned out to be the very things that made Jaws special.
Firstly, even though Spielberg admitted that his decision to shoot in the ocean instead of a specially designed tank in North Hollywood was hubris, he’d make the decision again if he had to. In 2011, he told Entertainment Weekly, “Had we shot in the tank, I don’t think Jaws would have been very successful because it would look really phoney.”
Secondly, Spielberg was forced to get creative by the continued malfunctioning of his shark. In fact, he later claimed, “The shark not working was a godsend. It made me become more like Alfred Hitchcock.” Realising that he couldn’t rely on the shark’s presence as often as he originally intended, Spielberg rewrote large swathes of the script to make it a more hidden presence. Instead of being a monster movie, it turned Jaws into a suspense picture.
Ultimately, Hollywood history would look very different if Sheinberg hadn’t made that secret agreement with Spielberg. After all, it solidified a relationship that later produced E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, and Schindler’s List.
When Sheinberg died in 2019 at the age of 84, Spielberg released an emotional statement that read, “My heart is broken at this news.” He said his old mentor was “the tallest, most stand-up guy I ever knew. He gave birth to my career and made Universal my home.” The iconic director then concluded, “We were a team for 25 years and he was my dear friend for 50…For the rest of my life, I will owe him more than I can express.”
