It remains one of the most enduring successes of his career, was the film that made his name as a director - but Steven Spielberg says he has some regrets about 'Jaws'.
The 1975 film, which was based on Peter Benchley's novel about an idyllic island town that is terrorised by a Great White Shark with a taste for human flesh, has attained 'modern classic' status.
Now, speaking on 'Desert Island Discs', the legendary movie director said feels guilty about how the film was partly responsible for the decimation of the shark population, and worries about how sharks are 'mad' at him for demonising them.
The popularity of the film led to a rise in 'sports fishing' in the US, which had an impact on the shark population.
Spielberg was asked by the host Lauren Laverne how he'd feel about sharks surrounding his own private island, and replied: “That’s one of the things I still fear. Not to get eaten by a shark, but that sharks are somehow mad at me for the feeding frenzy of crazy sports fishermen that happened after 1975."
He added: "I truly and to this day regret the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film. I really, truly regret that."
Peter Benchley had previously expressed similar regrets in an interview in 2000, where he said "What I now know, which wasn't known when I wrote Jaws, is that there is no such thing as a rogue shark which develops a taste for human flesh."
Hear the full Desert Island Discs interview with Spielberg here.
