If you are building a museum dedicated to the history of motion pictures, you have to have some memorabilia from the original summer blockbuster, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. And if you can secure a 1,208-pound, 25-foot-long shark built for the film, you know you are headed for an auspicious opening. Once installed above the main escalator of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, some investors may even remark: “We’re going to need a bigger museum.”
Although this version of “Bruce” did not actually appear on screen in the 1975 film, the shark replica was created by request of Universal Pictures from the original mold, based on one of three created by art director Joe Alves for Jaws.
The Great White originally graced the rafters at Universal Studios Hollywood before being cast aside and shipped to a Sun Valley, California junkyard for the next 25 years. Luckily, the junkyard’s owner, Nathan Adlan, donated “Bruce IV” to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in 2016. Noted special effects artist and one of the driving forces behind The Walking Dead, Greg Nicotero, added some of his expertise to the restoration project and the big boy is ready to smile at everyone who visits the museum, starting on April 30, 2021.
Check out the shark-infested video below for more information about Bruce’s journey.