Last Updated on September 3, 2025 by Ryan Scott
No, it’s not the summer of ‘75 but Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is enjoying a nice little run at the box office. Universal decided to re-release the filmmaker’s all-time shark movie classic over Labor Day weekend as a means to celebrate the blockbuster’s 50th anniversary this year. In part because it was a relatively quiet holiday weekend and in part because people still love this damn fine motion picture, it did quite well for itself upon re-entering theaters.
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Jaws pulled in an estimated $8.1 million through Sunday, good enough to land at number two on the domestic charts behind Weapons, which returned to the number one spot with $10.2 million. But this is Labor Day weekend meaning we also get the Monday holiday. With that factored in, the Jaws number grows to $9.8 million. That’s pretty impressive for a movie that has been readily available to watch at home for decades.
It’s also far from the first time that the movie has been re-released in theaters. In 2022, a 3D re-release of Jaws also found its way into the top ten at the box office. Spielberg’s cinematic classic also outperformed all of this past weekend’s new releases, including Caught Stealing ($9.5 million), The Roses ($8 million) and director Macon Blair’s remake of The Toxic Avenger ($2.2 million).
Not that most of you need a refresher but Jaws takes place in the seaside community of Amity which finds itself under attack by a deadly great white shark. After several deaths, the town's chief of police, a marine biologist and a grizzled shark hunter set out on a quest to kill the shark before it bloodies up the water any further. Roy Scheider stars as Chief Brody, Richard Dreyfuss stars as Hopper and Robert Shaw delivers an all-timer of a performance as Quint, the fearsome (and fearful) shark hunter.
Jaws was literally the first summer blockbuster when it arrived in 1975. It changed the way that movies were not only released, but made and marketed as well. It helped turn Spielberg into a superstar, going on to become one of the most celebrated, popular directors in history. The movie has now made north of $491 million through all of its various releases. Will it someday cross the $500 million barrier? It certainly doesn’t seem improbable at this point.
Jaws is in theaters now for a limited time. For more, get the lowdown on the return of The Invisible Man in comic book form.
