Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water: Jaws turns 50, but still resonates — and terrifies
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Jaws is a powerful reminder that excellence in filmmaking isn't always equated with mega budgets. At the time, Jaws grossed $100 million US within 60 days, which was a record achievement back then. It broke box office records previously set by other movies of the early 1970s, such as The Exorcist and The Godfather. Jaws ultimately grossed $470 million US around the world, after being made for under $9 million US. It was the highest grossing movie in history until Star Wars took that title a couple of years later.
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The movie not only led the way for the creation of the aforementioned summer blockbuster; it proved the power of suspenseful shows in terms of being able to attract significant audience and significant revenue.
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Jaws also demonstrated the irreplaceable feeling of watching a big movie on a big screen alongside a few hundred strangers. To have hundreds of others occasionally jump or scream at the same movie moment is a unique feeling. Just ask anyone who saw Jaws in a movie theatre 50 years ago.
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Another claim to fame for Jaws was its effective use of music. The theme song, based on the repetition of two notes being played one after another, became recognizable around the world. The composer, John Williams, won an Academy Award for the movie's musical score and the American Film Institute many years later ranked it as the sixth-greatest movie score.
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Other bits and bites from Jaws
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Jaws won a total of three Academy Awards; the aforementioned Best Original Dramatic Score award and the awards for Best Sound and Best Film Editing. It also garnered a nomination as Best Picture, but lost to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
At one point before production on the movie started, producers debated the idea of trying to train and use a living great white shark in the movie. It quickly became apparent the idea would never work.
Instead, the shark used in most of the scenes was actually one of three mechanical sharks, nicknamed Bruce. Up to 40 special effect workers spent time producing the sharks. Sometimes, those sharks didn't work perfectly, leading some workers on the set to call the movie Flaws, according to a Roanoke Times article published on the 30th anniversary of the movie.
The movie also contained footage of real sharks, filmed in Australia. To make sharks in that footage appear larger, a short actor in a smaller-than-usual shark cage was used in shots.
The three principal actors in Jaws spent so much time on the water shooting scenes that they often got seasick.
The movie was originally scheduled to shoot for 55 days. Instead, it took 159 days, leaving Spielberg to tell journalists it left him worrying this would ruin his career.
Spielberg told costume and set designers on the movie to avoid using anything red in terms of backgrounds or the actors' wardrobes so that when red blood would appear in a dramatic scene, it would be even more jarring to someone watching the flick.
Spin-off merchandise from the movie has included everything from Jaws-theme purses and beach bags to tub toys and whisky glasses. One of the strangest items, a Japanese bath bomb, is shaped like a little blue boat, but as it dissolves in bath water a toy shark appears, along with an ample supply of blood-red liquid.
In 2016, Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie sported a Jaws T-shirt for some performances during the band's final tour before his death. Why? Well, some speculated the shark represented the cancer that would ultimately take his life. His stylist told media the T-shirt was a personal item that Downie decided to wear.
Craving more shark content? Don't worry. Discovery channel's Shark Week is only a few weeks away, July 6-13, 2025.
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NOTE: The following article contains disturbing details and video footage. Please read at your own discretion. A woman identified only as the pseudonym 'Mia,' a former assistant of Sean 'Diddy' Combs, testified Thursday at his sex trafficking and racketeering trial. She claimed that Combs physically, emotionally and sexually abused her while she worked for him. 'He's thrown things at me. He's thrown me against the wall. He's thrown me into a pool. He's thrown an ice bucket on my head,' she said, before adding that Combs also sexually assaulted her on more than one occasion. She also spoke about the relationship between Combs and his former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. 'It was a cycle of highs and lows. Unequal and equal. Toxic. I'd say abusive. Like, it was abusive towards her,' she told the court. Story continues below advertisement 0:59 Diddy's ex-assistant Capricorn Clark says rapper kidnapped her during plot to kill Kid Cudi Combs has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of an indictment accusing him of a pattern of abuse toward Ventura and others. Day 12 Mia is a former assistant and director of development and acquisitions for Revolt Films, a film production company launched under Combs' Revolt network. She said her first job in the entertainment industry was for Georgina Chapman at Marchesa. She later worked as a personal assistant for Canadian actor and comedian Mike Myers before she was hired by Combs, working for him from 2009 until 2017. Mia described the work environment with Combs as 'chaotic and toxic.' 'The highs were really high and the lows were really, really low,' she said. Story continues below advertisement She said that 'Puff's mood' determined what type of day they would have and that his mood shifted 'all the time.' 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Mia said she wasn't allowed to leave Combs' home without his permission and was not allowed to lock her door when she stayed at his home. 'This is my house, no one locks my doors,' Mia recalled Combs saying. During her time working for Combs, Mia said he would punish her by threatening her job or insulting her intelligence, adding that there was 'a lot of getting cursed out and humiliated and berated.' She mentioned that Combs would throw things at her, including a bowl of spaghetti, turkey meat, a phone and a computer. She recalled working on a music video set in Los Angeles when Combs threw a computer at her head because the wifi didn't work. 'He cut me off and started screaming at me that like I shouldn't come back here until I figured out the wifi myself — something like, 'I don't care if you have to call Bill Gates,' and then chucked the computer at my head,' she said. Combs' former assistant said she started the Revolt Film Production Company with him and that she'd been running the film production company for years. Story continues below advertisement She said working at Revolt Films was 'overwhelmingly awesome' and her starting salary was $70,000, which increased to $100,000 a few years later. When asked about her relationship with Ventura, Mia said, 'We became like sisters, best friends.' She said they are still friends today. Mia said that Combs was 'in charge' of Ventura's appearance and he would visit sets when she was shooting a movie or a music video. 'Everyone would be really nervous,' Mia said. 'He would ask a lot of questions and sort of insert himself.' Mia describes Combs 'attacking' Ventura Mia said that she spent a lot of time with Ventura and that Combs asked her to keep tabs on her. When they would do something without Combs' permission, Mia said 'something bad, very scary' would happen afterwards. 'Punishment was typically unpredictable but typically pretty terrifying,' she said. Mia also testified that she witnessed Combs 'attack' Ventura, throw her on the ground, chase her and 'crack her head open.' She said that she never saw Ventura fight back and only saw her 'with her arms up, for him to stop.' She also recalled the first time she saw signs of violence between the former couple at his home in Los Angeles; she said she heard thuds against the wall coming from his second-floor bedroom and saw suitcases fly over the railing into the foyer on the floor below. Story continues below advertisement Mia said she saw Ventura hiding behind a bush outside of the home, shaking and crying. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'She had the most terrified look in her eyes,' Mia said. She also recalled an incident at Ventura's apartment when she was helping her pack for an upcoming trip to a music festival. (Celebrity stylist Deonte Nash had testified about it on May 28 while on the witness stand.) She said that Combs arrived at Ventura's apartment and began banging on the door and screaming at Ventura, asking her if she'd been drinking. Mia said Combs was 'crazy aggressive' and began attacking Ventura. 'Me and Deonte immediately jumped in and tried to stop it,' Mia said. 'We were both just trying to get him off of her.' Story continues below advertisement 'At some point, he had Deonte in like a position where I was like scared he was going to kill him and I jumped on his back,' she said. 'He threw me against the wall so quick and so easily, and I realized we were in real, real danger,' she said. Mia said that Combs followed Ventura into the bedroom and she saw him pick her up. 'I thought, 'Is he going to kill her?'' she said. 'He slammed her head into the corner of the bed,' Mia said, adding that Ventura's head 'started gushing blood.' After the altercation, Combs told Mia to get in touch with an assistant to schedule an appointment with a plastic surgeon to fix the gash on Ventura's head and told her to say that Ventura fell when she was drunk. When asked about how Combs looked during the incident, Mia said, 'His eyes turned, like, black and there was like no getting through. Like, I was trying to get him to stop, and it was like he was looking through me.'' Mia also recounted an incident at a 2010 party hosted by musician Prince, in which his security had to separate Combs from Ventura. She said the night was after an awards show and Combs told her to stay with Ventura at a hotel to keep her company. Story continues below advertisement A friend called and told Mia and Ventura about the party at Prince's house. 'Cass and I debated like little kids if we should sneak out of the house for probably what felt like forever,' Mia told the court. They ended up going to the party and having fun while dancing and watching Prince perform, she said. Combs arrived at the party and Mia said that she and Ventura took off running out of the house but 'Puff caught Cass.' 'He caught up to her and had her on the ground,' Mia said. 'He started attacking her, but Prince's security swiftly intervened.' Mia said she left and spent the night at a different hotel. The next day, the head of human resources told her Combs was suspending her without pay for being 'insubordinate.' Story continues below advertisement Still on the stand, Mia went on to discuss a 2012 trip she took with Combs and Ventura to Turks and Caicos where she witnessed violence more than once. 'I was woken up to Cass running and screaming into the room. She was screaming for help and saying, 'You gotta help me, he's gonna kill me,'' Mia recalled. 'Cass is normally very chill, calm, and it was like the most terrified someone screaming for their life,' she added. Mia said that Ventura pushed furniture toward the door but Combs caught up and began 'banging and screaming' at the door. She said that she and Ventura ran out of the back of the room, through the patio, and hid on the beach. Mia described the injuries she saw on Ventura's body. 'I would see bruises on her body and fat lips and busted eyebrow, like a gash on her forehead, black eyes, things like that,' she said. Mia said on another occasion, she saw Ventura had visible injuries during the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. She said Ventura had a busted lip and other injuries. She said Ventura played a recording for her in which she could hear Combs yelling at her while he 'attacked' her. She said she heard 'the sound of someone getting hit and being attacked, essentially.' Story continues below advertisement View image in full screen Cassie, Sean Combs and Rita Ora attend the Chopard Mystere Party during the 65th Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2012, in Cannes, France. Michel Dufour/WireImage During a movie premiere at Cannes, Mia said she saw Combs aggressively talking to Ventura through gritted teeth and 'digging his nails into her arm.' Mia said that she didn't report the abuse she witnessed to the police for numerous reasons. 'I believed that Puff's authority was above the police,' Mia said. 'This was a period where — years and years before social media or 'Me Too' or any sort of example where someone had stood up successfully to someone in power such as him.' Former assistant says she had to clean up 'nightmare' scenes in hotel rooms Mia said that she was often tasked with cleaning up hotel rooms that Combs and Ventura stayed in, doing a 'sweep' for anything potentially damaging to their reputation. Story continues below advertisement She said it was 'standard procedure' to clean the rooms to make sure there wasn't anything 'a housekeeper could take to TMZ.' Mia said the rooms would be a 'nightmare,' with things like baby oil, candle wax and sometimes even blood, which she said Combs told her was 'period blood.' She also recalled one day when she was in Ventura's car and the singer had received a message from Combs. 'She got a message and was like upset,' she said, adding that Ventura said, 'Puff wants to have a hotel night.' Mia said that Ventura seemed 'really nervous' and 'started getting stomach issues because of it.' Mia says that Combs sexually assaulted her multiple times Mia also testified that Combs sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions while she worked for him. She said that Ventura was not present when the assaults occurred and she did not tell her about them. She said Combs had asked her to speak with him in the kitchen at his home a few months after she started working for him. Mia said he told her she was doing a 'good job' and she didn't need to be nervous and offered her two shots of alcohol. Story continues below advertisement She said that the shots 'hit me kind of hard' and was shocked when Combs leaned in to kiss her against the wall. 'I was shocked and I froze. I couldn't even process what was happening,' she told the court. She said the next thing she remembered clearly was sitting in a chair in the main room of a penthouse as the sun came up. Mia said she thought it would never happen again and believed that Combs had just been drunk and that it was all 'probably a huge accident.' She said the next time Combs made her feel uncomfortable was at his 40th birthday party in his New York apartment. Mia said she was bringing Combs' bags to his apartment and his security said, 'I've seen this before.' When she got inside, Mia said that Combs asked her to look something up for him on the computer and sat beside her. She said that he leaned over her and got very close and that's when her internal 'alarm bells' went off. 'I felt really uncomfortable, but I didn't know how to behave,' she said. Story continues below advertisement She asked to go to the bathroom and once she came out, she left the apartment quickly. In another instance, Mia said that Combs raped her in 2009 or 2010 when she was asleep in his Los Angeles home. She said he climbed on top of her and she woke up due to 'the weight of a person on top of me.' Mia said Combs told her to be quiet and used one hand to get his pants off. 'He put himself inside of me,' Mia said. 'I just froze, I didn't react.' Mia said she was 'terrified and confused and ashamed and scared,' adding that it was 'very quick, but it felt like forever.' She also spoke about another time when she said Combs sexually assaulted her at his home in Los Angeles while she was on the floor in his closet packing a bag. 'I felt like trash,' she said, before adding that she felt 'scared and ashamed and like an idiot.' Stylist says he introduced Ventura to Michael B. Jordan Celebrity stylist Deonte Nash was back on the witness stand earlier on May 29 and testified that people who worked for Combs told him that Ventura and the rapper had broken up when she started dating Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, in 2011. Story continues below advertisement Nash also said that he had set Ventura up with actor Michael B. Jordan while she was on set of a movie in South Africa in 2015. 'Yes, I did hook her up with Michael B. Jordan. I know where we're going with his,' Nash told the court. 'He fine, she fine. I mean, 'Why not?'' View image in full screen Michael B. Jordan attends the Global Premiere of 'Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning' in Leicester Square Gardens in London, United Kingdom on May 15, 2025. Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu via Getty Images Judge Arun Subramanian warned Nash to wait for a question and only answer the questions asked. Nash went on to say that Ventura and Combs broke up while she was in South Africa to film the movie. He claimed that Ventura found out Combs was seen in public with 'Gina' at an event. Gina has been described as an ex-girlfriend of Combs. Combs' lawyer Xavier Donaldson showed Nash a series of text messages he sent to Ventura in 2015 around the time she learned that Combs was with Gina in public. In one text, Nash told Ventura to 'ignore' it. Story continues below advertisement 'I don't remember the context but I'm sure we were being antagonized by your client,' Nash said. Nash said that Combs was contacting him and Ventura once he heard that she was talking to Jordan. He said that Ventura 'wasn't pressed' about Combs' relationship with Gina but was more upset that he was 'running around with other women' and how it could affect her career. The stylist said that he stopped working with Combs in 2018, but they still kept in touch. The same year, Combs texted Nash, writing, 'Please call me. No drama, it's important. I'm concerned. How is she?' Nash confirmed that Combs was talking about Ventura in the text message. In January 2019, Combs texted Nash again, writing, 'How is she? Make sure she's alright. If she ever needs me, call me.' What Combs is on trial for U.S. prosecutors allege that for 20 years, behind the scenes, Combs was coercing and abusing women with help from a network of associates who helped silence victims through blackmail and violence. Combs faces an indictment that includes descriptions of freak-offs, which are defined in the court doc as 'elaborate and produced sex performances that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded.' Story continues below advertisement Numerous witnesses have come forward to accuse Combs of terrorizing people into silence by choking, hitting, kicking and dragging them, according to prosecutors. One indictment alleges that Combs dangled someone from a balcony. 1:37 Sean 'Diddy' Combs to fight charges with 'all of his energy' Although dozens of men and women have alleged in lawsuits that Combs abused them, this trial will highlight the claims of four women. Combs is charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has denied all the charges against him and has rejected a plea deal, choosing to go to trial instead. If found guilty in the New York court, he could face life in prison. — Day 11 testimony Day 10 testimony — Story continues below advertisement Global News will be covering the Diddy trial in its entirety. Please check back for updates. — With files from The Associated Press
