Jaws (franchise) Jaws (franchise) Jaws is an American natural horror film series that started with a 1975 film that expanded into three sequels, a theme park ride, and other tie-in merchandise, based on a 1974 novel. The main subject of the saga is a great white shark, and its attacks on people in specific areas of the United States. The Brody family is featured in all of the films as the primary antithesis to the shark. The original film was based on a novel written by Peter Benchley, which itself was inspired by the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916. Benchley adapted
Jaws (franchise) for his work on the first film. The shark theme is used in all three sequels, a continuity that Williams compares to "the great tradition" for repeating musical themes in Hollywood serials such as Roy Rogers and The Lone Ranger. Alan Parker composed and conducted the score for "Jaws 3-D", while the final film was scored by Michael Small. The latter was particularly praised for his work, which many critics considered superior to the film. "Jaws" was the first film to use "wide release" as a distribution pattern. As such, it is an important film in the history of film