Richard Zanuck and David Brown paid Jaws writer Peter Benchley $2.15 million for film rights to the novel and a first draft of the screenplay, plus 10 percent of the gross, five percent of the soundtrack sales and approval of all of the crew and the locations.
Needless to say, in 1980, Peter Benchley was a big deal.
Blair Maynard (Michael Caine) is British-born but American, which explains how he could be Michael Caine. Anyways, he used to be in the Navy, now he's a journalist and he's also a dad whose son Justin (Jeffrey Frank) kind of hates him. So he takes him to Florida, supposedly for Disney World, but also to shoot guns and fish and oh yeah, get kidnapped by an unknown colony of French pirates.
For some reason - the last name - everyone thinks that the Maynards are related to the captain who killed Blackbeard, Robert Maynard. So they let them live, making Blair their writer - and he also gets to keep their in-bred gene pool a little less in-bred - and Justin the adopted son of their leader Nau (David Warner).
Director Michael Richie also made the films Smile, Downhill Racer, The Golden Child, Semi-Tough, The Bad News Bears, Fletch, Fletch Lives and wrote Cool Runnings. He also - as Alan Smithee - directed Student Bodies.
The poster promises that this is going to be a horror movie and it's...I don't know. It's kind of Straw Dogs but not as good, despite the high concepts of pirates hanging out on a secret island in the Bermuda Triangle for three centuries. At least Ennio Morricone did the soundtrack (he did thirteen movies in 1980).
Benchley also had The Deep, another pirate story, made into a movie and that made more than Jaws did its first weekend. It also has Jacqueline Bisset in a see-through white t-shirt and this movie didn't have any success or Bisset almost nude.
Man, people were busy in 1980. Richie also made Divine Madness and Caine was in Dressed to Kill.
Needless to say, in 1980, Peter Benchley was a big deal.
Blair Maynard (Michael Caine) is British-born but American, which explains how he could be Michael Caine. Anyways, he used to be in the Navy, now he's a journalist and he's also a dad whose son Justin (Jeffrey Frank) kind of hates him. So he takes him to Florida, supposedly for Disney World, but also to shoot guns and fish and oh yeah, get kidnapped by an unknown colony of French pirates.
For some reason - the last name - everyone thinks that the Maynards are related to the captain who killed Blackbeard, Robert Maynard. So they let them live, making Blair their writer - and he also gets to keep their in-bred gene pool a little less in-bred - and Justin the adopted son of their leader Nau (David Warner).
Director Michael Richie also made the films Smile, Downhill Racer, The Golden Child, Semi-Tough, The Bad News Bears, Fletch, Fletch Lives and wrote Cool Runnings. He also - as Alan Smithee - directed Student Bodies.
The poster promises that this is going to be a horror movie and it's...I don't know. It's kind of Straw Dogs but not as good, despite the high concepts of pirates hanging out on a secret island in the Bermuda Triangle for three centuries. At least Ennio Morricone did the soundtrack (he did thirteen movies in 1980).
Benchley also had The Deep, another pirate story, made into a movie and that made more than Jaws did its first weekend. It also has Jacqueline Bisset in a see-through white t-shirt and this movie didn't have any success or Bisset almost nude.
Man, people were busy in 1980. Richie also made Divine Madness and Caine was in Dressed to Kill.