As The Daily Jaws detailed earlier this year, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has been working on a restoration of “Bruce” from Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, with Greg Nicotero and his company KNB EFX working to bring the iconic shark back to his 1970s glory. To be clear, this isn’t a screen used shark, but rather the last casting from the original mold.
This particular shark had long been on display at Universal Studios, but as Nicotero explained to The Daily Jaws earlier this year, it had been sitting in a junkyard for several years.
“It was in pretty rough shape,” the Academy Museum’s Sophie Hunter told the site. “It needed a major restoration. It was filled with wasp nests and dirt.”
Nicotero added, “We’ve stripped all the old paint off of it, we’re patching all the cracks, we have to redo the eyes. We’re gonna restore it what it would have looked like on day one of filming for Jaws.”
This week, the Academy Museum has shown off a few pictures of the restoration-in-progress, which you can find below. Nicotero also shared some through his own Instagram.
He wrote on Instagram, “Honored to restore the last original casting from the original molds for the soon to open Academy Museum. We have spent the last 4 months restoring this piece to go on display utilizing original teeth and consulting with production designer Joe Alves and several original effects techs Cal Accord, Kevin Pike and Toy Arbogast. An honor to work with these brilliant artists and the folks at KNB working feverishly.”
The Academy Museum will be opening soon in Los Angeles, California.
