Barely half of this generation has seen ‘Jaws,' as Spielberg classic celebrates 50 years
Their cinema knowledge bites!
Barely half of Gen Z has seen the original summer blockbuster 'Jaws' compared to nearly 90% of people who came of age when the classic flick hit the silver screen.
Steven Spielberg's pulse-pounding shark thriller — which first struck fear into the hearts of beachgoers exactly 50 years ago Friday — has only been viewed by 53% of 18- to 29-year-olds, according to a jaw-dropping new Gallup poll.
By contrast, 88% of people over 65 years old have sunk their teeth into the flick, which held the No. 1 box office spot for 14 weeks and was the first film ever to rake in $100 million.
3 Barely half of Gen Z has seen the movie 'Jaws', according to a new poll.
AP
Pollsters cited no specific reason for why the generation that brought you the word 'cringe,' Crocs-as-fashion and TikTok activism wasn't hip to the movie — but its 2 hour, 10 minute running time might be a hint.
Overall, 91% of people ages 50 to 64 and 78% of 30-to-49-year-olds reported seeing the spine-tingling flick, which centers on a massive man-eater that unleashes chaos on Long Island beach town.
When the movie was released on June 20, 1975, it made giant waves in the US with viewers saying it scared them away from the water and increased their fear of sharks.
The film was such a hit with young people at the time, a whopping 40% of 18-to-29-year-olds said they'd seen it by the end of summer 1975, according to a Gallup poll taken that year.
3 A total of 78% of Americans reported seeing 'Jaws' as of May 2025.
AP
At the time, 18% of viewers called it 'the most frightening movie' they had ever seen and 35% said the movie increased their fear of swimming in the ocean, according to the poll.
3 The classic movie stoked fears about sharks and swimming in the ocean.
AP
The more recent poll, conducted in May ahead of the movie's anniversary, notes a total of 78% of all US adults have seen 'Jaws.'
It's ultimately not clear if a 53% viewership among Gen Z adults is high or low for a 50-year-old film without more cinema data to compare it to, pollsters said.
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