Steven Spielberg Recalls How a Man Literally Puked During an Early Screening of Jaws

That tiger shark in Jaws (now streaming on Peacock) wasn't the only thing to empty out the contents of its stomach.

While recalling his memories of the film's very first preview screening (held at the Medallion Theatre in Dallas) to author and fellow filmmaker Laurent Bouzereau, director Steven Spielberg remembered how one audience member vomited directly onto the theater floor in response to the death of young Alex Kintner (played by Jeffrey Voorhees).

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Model Who Posed As Ill-Fated Swimmer for Iconic Jaws Poster Preaches Shark Protection
How Steven Spielberg's First Theatrical Movie (and Box Office Bomb) Led to Jaws
Steven Spielberg Recalls How a Man Puked on the Theater Floor During an Early Screening of Jaws

That Time a Man Puked During a Preview Screening of Jaws

"A man got up and started walking out — I thought, 'Oh my God. Our first walkout,'" he states in Spielberg: The First Ten Years (now on sale from Insight Editions). "Then he began running and I went, 'Oh, no, he’s not walking out — he’s running out.' I could tell he was headed for the bathrooms, but he didn’t make it and vomited all over the floor. And I just went, 'Oh my God, what have I done? What kind of a movie have I made? A man has just barfed because of my film.'"

About five minutes later, however, the man "went right back to his seat," as though nothing had happened. One can only hope his upchuck didn't go to waste and that it was repurposed into a bucket of chum for later use. Okay, never mind — that's pretty gross. Nevertheless, the fact that the guy didn't just leave after that proved Spielberg and Universal had something special on their hands.

The advanced screening served as a major vindication for the 27-year-old Spielberg, whose filmmaking career had nearly sunk off the shores of Martha's Vineyard. The arduous production involving an animatronic shark that refused to behave when the crew needed it most instantly melted away in the light of moviegoers screaming their heads off at the birth of the modern summer blockbuster.

"I’d had only one experience prior to this with The Sugarland Express, where the preview audience just kept quiet the entire time," he says in the book. "But with Jaws, it was very, very loud and people went crazy. This preview was the most extraordinary response I could ever have imagined."

The complete Jaws quadrilogy is now streaming on Peacock.