The folks at Narragansett Brewery are throwing their own shark week celebration, starting this Thursday with a screening of “Jaws” complete with costume contest. There will probably be several Quints crushing it. While the book is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the movie won’t turn fifty until next June. But the brewery celebrates “Jaws” every year, all year, and why not? It’s a fantastic movie and that scene is iconic.
The New York Times notes that author Peter Benchley initially had trouble landing on the perfect title for the book:
Benchley had spent months kicking around potential names (“Dark White”? “The Edge of Gloom”?). Finally, just hours before deadline, he found it.
“Jaws,” he wrote on the manuscript’s cover page.
More events planned:
6pm to 9pm, Friday, Sharks Come Cruisin perform.
2pm to 6pm, Saturday, Mechanical Shark Day.
Jaws, 6pm, Thursday, July 18, Narragansett Brewery 271 Tockwotton Street, (directions)
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Seen here is the sole-surviving full scale model of the shark from Jaws, moved to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles in 2020. Director Steven Spielberg famously named the troublesome prop Bruce in honor of his lawyer. From Newsweek:
Bruce (the shark, not the lawyer) is 1,208 pounds, 25-foot-long and 45 years old. It is the last of its kind, since all other sharks used for the film were destroyed, according to NPR. “The original Bruce — or Bruces — were all destroyed,” Spielberg’s spokesman, Marvin Levy, told the publication. “So there is no Bruce existing anywhere, nor any parts thereof.” However, the last mighty creature was found in a junkyard, and given new life.
The creature moved into its new home on Friday, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. Before heading to the museum, the shark underwent a seven-month restoration by special effects and makeup artist Greg Nicotero.
Kudos to Mr. Nicotero . . . the Ampullae of Lorenzini were a nice touch.