Steven Spielberg is among the most accomplished directors in the Hollywood industry, who has given multiple box-office hits. Some of the best works of the director include Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones, the Jurrasic Park movies, West Side Story, Schindler’s List, and more. One of his biggest hits was the Jaws franchise. The film franchise was a box office super success, which became the inspiration for numerous films based on the theme.

Steven Spielberg

Among many people inspired by the films is Ben Wheatley. The director opened up on being a die-hard fan of Jaws and getting inspired to make The Meg 2.

Ben Wheatley found inspiration from Steven Speilberg’s Jaws

Ben Wheatley is a popular English filmmaker, film editor, and animator, who is the mind behind the new film Meg 2: The Trench. The film is the sequel to the 2018 film, The Meg. The director opened up in an interview about his fascination for the 1975 shark movie and reveals he has watched it several times over the years.

The Meg 2: The Trench

He added that he found inspiration from the famous Steven Speilberg film Jaws for his new film based on Steven Allen’s novels. In conversation with Screen Rant, he shared,
“A lifetime of watching monster movies. It comes from, I think, being a kid and watching [Ray] Harryhausen’s stuff; watching Jason and the Argonauts and Sinbad and all those movies. I remember watching Jaws as a kid on TV, and that blowing my mind.”
Further adding,
“In fact, I’ve probably watched Jaws every year since and always see new things in it. It’s not just the greatest shark film of all time, but one the greatest films of all time. So, I take a lot of influence from that. And then I really love the kind of 70s Godzilla stuff, then Shin Godzilla, and the current influence of legendary Godzilla movies. It’s all that stuff.”

“But then also, on the human side, it’s kind of like Thing From Another World or those ’40s science-based adventures with lots of characters trying to solve stuff, and that all feeds in. And Them!, the giant ant movie. It’s a lot.”

Steven Spielberg on the success of Jaws

Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is one of the legendary movies of the Hollywood industry. It is considered one of the best films on screen with amazing effects in the shark film. The film was loved by the audience and consolidated Speilberg’s position as a prominent and visionary director. Jaws was an important movie as it brought the new era of American filmmaking. It led to an era of new ideas, fresh faces, and creative experimentation by filmmakers.

Jaws (1975)

Spielberg shared in an interview with The Sunday Post,
“I was a director-for-hire before Jaws, and because it was such a big hit, I could do any movie I wanted, and Hollywood just wrote me a cheque. I’d wanted to make this movie about flying saucers, but people thought it was a crazy idea. I was telling them: ‘This big mothership comes down at the end, the guy goes into the ship, you’re going to love it!’ but they wouldn’t give me the time of day.”

“But the second Jaws was a hit, everybody said: ‘What about that flying saucer movie you had? Do you still want to make that?’ So, Jaws really was the turning point.”
The Jaws franchise was a superhit when it was released and in total it grossed nearly $800 million worldwide.

Source- Screen Rant