10 Troubled Shoots That Resulted In Great Films
6. It Took Three Times Longer Than Planned To Shoot - Jaws
Jaws was Spielberg's second directorial effort in his career and its surprise success established him as one of Hollywood's premier talents. But had audiences not flocked to see Jaws, Spielberg's career could've also just as easily ended right there due to the sheer amount of difficulties encountered whilst making the film.
Spielberg insisted on filming in the actual ocean which put the production at the mercy of the weather gods. The unpredictability of the sea and weather, boats drifting in and out of camera, equipment being damaged from seawater, and constant seasickness from the cast and crew meant that filming was often delayed. What was scheduled to be a 55 day shoot soon escalated to a whopping 159 day shoot and the budget had more than tripled as a result.
The ocean location was also tough the full-sized mechanical shark built for the film. The shark, affectionately named Bruce, was prone to frequent breakdowns and frequently caused filming delays. Improvising on the spot, Spielberg decided to keep the shark largely off-screen whilst playing up the suspense in a 'less is more' kind of way.
In the end though, all these mishaps, delays, and improvised scenes arguably produced a far better film than what was originally planned and Spielberg became the legendary director he is rather than the middle-aged burger flipper he could've been.