Five Jaws 40th Anniversary Screenings Around Boston

Film still from Jaws. / Courtesy photo

On June 20, 1975, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws first lunged into theaters, taking a massive bite out of the box office, and clinching its status as the first summer blockbuster.

Chances are, anyone reading this falls into one of three camps when it comes to Jaws: Perhaps you first encountered it as a teenager when it opened in 1975 and had your mind blown so completely that you had to buy a ticket and see it again—maybe even nine times in two weeks. Maybe you were a tiny kid whose parents didn’t heed the “May Be Too Intense for Younger Children” disclaimer on the movie poster before packing you off to the theater, ensuring that you’d spend the rest of your life suffering from a deadly fear of sharks. Or maybe you were born long after the film came out and have mostly absorbed it through pop-culture osmosis—which is fair enough, considering that even Richard Dreyfuss’s kids don’t remember who said the immortal “bigger boat” line.

No matter where you fall on the shark-movie spectrum, we can all acknowledge that, four decades after its release, Jaws still reigns supreme as the ultimate summer thriller—and theaters all over the area are hosting special screenings to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

This summer, sink your teeth into these Jaws events:

The Lawn on D
June 12, 8:45 p.m.

As part of their “Friday Night Flicks” series, the Lawn on D presents a special Jaws screening, with Brooklyn garage-rockers Shark? on hand to warm up the crowd at 7:45 p.m.

Wellfleet Drive-In Theatre
June 17, 8:30 p.m.

Sharks aren’t the only megafauna at this special presentation by the 17th annual Provincetown International Film Festival. This June, the terror gets served up surf-and-turf style at the Wellfleet Drive-In, which is screening a double feature of Jaws and Roar. But with Roar, a film notorious for being one of the most dangerous movies ever made, the lion-wreaked carnage isn’t Spielberg-grade movie magic—it’s real.

Fathom Events
June 21 and June 24, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Just in time for Father’s Day, Jaws hits theaters all over the nation, thanks to Fathom Events’ special 40th anniversary screenings, which includes an intro from Ben Mankiewicz. Local participating cinemas include Fenway 13 and Revere Showcase Cinemas—check Fathom’s list of theater locations for more info.

Brattle Theatre
July 3-4: Jaws at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Jaws 2 at 4:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m (July 3 only).

On Fourth of July weekend, beat the heat with a shark frenzy at the Brattle, which is screening both Jaws and Jaws 2.

Somerville Theatre
August 14, 8 p.m.; August 15, 3 p.m., 8 p.m., midnight; August 16, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Like the Brattle, the Somerville Theatre makes Jaws an annual summer tradition, and for this year’s “Jaws Weekend,” they’re screening a 35mm print.