‘Jaws’ swimming back to theaters for 40th anniversary

We’re gonna need a bigger screen.

“Jaws,” Steven Spielberg’s 1975 thriller about a great white shark terrorizing a seaside resort town, is headed back to theaters to mark its 40th anniversary.

On June 21 and 24, Fathom Events, Turner Classic Movies and Universal Pictures will present afternoon and evening screenings of the film at about 500 theaters nationwide. An introduction by TCM’s Ben Mankiewicz will precede the movie.

Based on the Peter Benchley novel, “Jaws” tells of a New England police chief (Roy Scheider), an oceanographer (Richard Dreyfuss) and a shark hunter (Robert Shaw) who tangle with an undersea menace. The film was a critical and commercial hit upon its release, and four decades later it’s credited with ushering in the summer blockbuster and turning Spielberg into a major player in Hollywood.

“‘Jaws’ is a classic thriller enjoyed by generations and it is ready for a comeback,” Kymberli Frueh-Owens, Fathom’s vice president of programming, said in a statement. “Movie buffs will love seeing their favorite killer shark larger than life on the big screen. No risk of shark bite!”

“Jaws” tickets go on sale Friday on the Fathom website.

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