15 Popular Movies Which Were Notoriously Difficult To Produce

Jaws is one of Steven Spielberg’s best works. You wouldn’t know just by watching it, but the production was plagued with so many issues, that it’s a miracle just how amazing the final product turned out to be.

Filming was planned to be just 55 days before expanding to a whopping 159 days, with more and more money being spent out of the planned budget. According to Richard Dreyfuss, "we started filming without a script, without a cast and without a shark."

The problems mostly stemmed from the mechanical sharks. A total of three were made, all costing approximately $250,000 and all with different functions. When they came to being tested in the water, they sank straight to the ocean floor. It became a frequent struggle to work the sharks whilst also making them look realistic. Ironically, the animatronic fish were only seen on screen for less than five minutes, despite all the cost and trouble that came with them. The infamous Orca (boat) also sunk at one point, putting a lot of crew and expensive equipment at risk.

And above all, no one really enjoyed their time on Jaws. The ocean was cold and uninviting, yet extras had to immerse themselves into the freezing waters. One unlucky woman was buried in the sand to replicate Chrissie’s remains. Rob Schneider was painfully slapped several times by Lee Fierro because she couldn’t fake one. And the film's two leads Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw constantly feuded on set.