Spielberg regrets the consequences of his successful white shark movie

American director Steven Spielberg said in an interview that he regretted the negative consequences of his successful movie “Jaws” on predatory fish. “To this day, I feel sorry for the sharks that perished because of the book and the movie. I’m really sorry for that,” the 76-year-old said Sunday on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs programme.

Spielberg spoke of a “feeding craze” that the film sparked among sport fishermen after its 1975 release. Half-jokingly, Spielberg said that this was the reason he was afraid of swimming in shark water—”that sharks kind of piss me off.”

Spielberg’s Horror shocker (English title: “Jaws”) is based on the novel of the same name by American author Peter Benchley (1940-2006). It made around $470 million worldwide on an estimated $8 million budget and won three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe in 1976. A BBC report asked fish researcher George Burgess about the film’s repercussions: “Thousands of fishermen set out to catch sharks after watching the movie.” Jaws.” Burgess spoke of a “testosterone rush” that rippled over the East Coast of the United States. Benchley is said to have already apologized for the consequences of his book.