A new, immersive exhibition titled “Jaws: The Exhibition” opened on September 14, 2025, at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles. Running through July 26, 2026, it invites fans of the Steven Spielberg classic to step inside the film’s legacy.
The exhibit includes over 200 artifacts from the film’s development, production, and release stages. Attendees can view original screen-used props, costumes, concept art, script pages, and behind-the-scenes photos assembled from archives and private collections globally.
Highlights include the actual costumes worn by characters, the buoy from the opening scene, the Orca barrels, Quint’s machete, and the shark cage. These authentic objects are interwoven with immersive design to bring the film’s narrative to life.
The exhibition is laid out to guide visitors through a narrative arc mirroring the film: from the ominous opening credits, through Amity Island, aboard the Orca, and deeper into the lore of shark lore and cinema history.
Interactive elements enhance the experience. Visitors can pose in photo-ops modeled after famous scenes, experiment with a dolly-zoom effect (a cinematographic technique made famous in Jaws), and even try their hand at playing parts of John Williams’s iconic score on a keyboard provided.
Steven Spielberg himself appeared at a preview and shared anecdotes about production—how collectors preserved objects he never expected would survive, and how today, these pieces together evoke the film in a way cinema and history converge.
Beyond nostalgia, the exhibition offers insight into filmmaking, set design, special effects and the collaborative processes that shaped Jaws. For visitors, it’s not just about seeing, but understanding what goes into creating a film that has endured across 50 years.
For professionals in curation, exhibit design, film history, and museum management, Jaws: The Exhibition offers a compelling example of how popular culture artifacts can be curated with depth—balancing entertainment value, educational content, and audience immersion.
