“The art director liked my sketch, but he said ‘Make the shark bigger!’”
Forty five years ago this summer, moviegoers faced a monster who didn’t reveal himself until over an hour into the film. Jaws was a certified smash that became Hollywood’s first summer blockbuster, spawning three sequels and generations of people who remain terrified — or at the very least, cautious — about wading too deeply into the water.
Having seen Jaws at the theatre when I was just a kid way back in ’75, this writer won’t even swim in a backyard pool at night before flipping on the light and checking the water first. Just. In. Case.
While volumes have been written about the theatrical film — it was director Steven Spielberg’s first of many box office and critical hits, and everyone knows about the pesky mechanical shark that just wouldn’t work on set — far less has been written about the iconic artwork that first adorned the mass market paperback edition of the novel.
Upon seeing that image, Universal Pictures purchased it from artist Roger Kastel and used it to market Jaws the following summer. With that decision, a worldwide marketing phenomenon was born.
The image remains immediately identifiable, 45 years after its debut.
As it turns out, painting a great white shark was just another day at the office for Kastel.
“I was working for Bantum Books, and I just happened to be in the art director’s office one day, delivering a job,” the now 88 year old Kastel EXCLUSIVELY told me by phone. “He handed me the hardcover edition of Jaws, and asked me to read it over the weekend and decide how I would handle the paperwork edition. He said he was sure it was going to be a big bestseller.”
While the artwork for the novel’s hardback edition gives a peak of what was to become one of history’s most iconic pieces of movie marketing media, Kastel took the concept from that original hardback…
And took it to a whole different level!
Read freelance writer MPC’s full feature, and hear more EXCLUSIVE comments from artist Roger Kastel. Find out why the book was banned in major markets — spoiler alert! It was because of his cover art! — and learn about the mystery surrounding his original poster’s disappearance.
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