Jaws, Steven Spielberg's 1975 shark thriller, has returned to streaming on Netflix, prompting renewed attention to the film widely credited with inventing the modern summer blockbuster. Before its release, studios typically opened films gradually in major cities and avoided summer, considered a poor season for cinema; Universal's decision to give Jaws a wide, heavily marketed nationwide release changed industry practice permanently, a strategy later cemented by Star Wars two years afterwards.

The production was troubled: Universal's initial $3.5 million budget for adapting Peter Benchley's novel ballooned to $9 million due to a malfunctioning mechanical shark and difficult ocean filming, delaying the release from December 1974 to June 1975. Universal backed the film with an unprecedented $700,000 marketing campaign and an unusually wide release across 409 screens; the shark's technical failures forced Spielberg to rely on suspense rather than visible attacks, a choice now credited with improving the film. Jaws went on to earn over $21 million in its first ten days and more than $260 million overall, cementing its status as a landmark in film history.