Jaws 2 is a relatively bloodless affair compared to the original, but are rumors of a gory, R-rated version true? While Steven Spielberg hasn't made an out-and-out horror movie in his career, he's still produced some of the most terrifying scenes in movie history. From the opening attack of Jaws to the T-Rex escape in Jurassic Park, he has a talent for suspense and scares.
Spielberg famously had a stressful time making Jaws, which went wildly over budget and schedule. This is one reason he opted out of making Jaws 2, though the production on this 1978 sequel was no less dramatic. Original helmer John D. Hancock was fired after about a month of filming, with his footage and script being almost entirely scrapped. Director Jeannot Szwarc took over, and clashed with lead Roy Scheider. Despite the drama, the movie was a solid hit. It was also, noticeably, less violent than Spielberg's original.
Jaws doesn't have a huge bodycount, but a few of those deaths can be quite messy, including the demise of Robert Shaw's Quint. The movie's huge success did prompt some parents to complain about the gore, so an effort was made to clean things up for Jaws 2. Despite the shark essentially acting like a slasher villain and racking up a high kill count, there's not much blood to be seen. That said, reports have emerged of a supposed cut of the sequel with more explicit violence.
This alleged cut of Jaws 2 is said to have cropped up around the early 1980s during TV screenings on HBO or in Ireland on RTE. One of the key images that has stuck with viewers from this version is a shot of unlucky teenager Marge, who in the movie is consumed whole when the shark emerges from the water and snatches her. The way the scene is staged doesn't show her being eaten, however, with Marge instead disappearing as the shark engulfs her. In the alternate TV version, she apparently could actually be seen inside the shark's mouth, screaming for help as its jaws clamp down.
Jaws 2 did cut some deaths out, including an extended version of the helicopter attack, with the shark actually attacking the pilot once the copter is underwater. The movie also cut the death of Billy Van Zandt's Bob, who was set to killed by the shark in the finale. In the original Hancock version of the script, the latter character was also meant to be bitten in half, but this was later toned when Szwarc took over. However, no evidence of a bloodier TV cut has emerged, and the studio was eager to nab a PG rating for Jaws 2 so it makes little sense for them to shot scenes they wouldn't use.
In Louis R. Pisano and Michael A. Smith’s book Jaws 2: The Making of the Hollywood Sequel, director Szwarc and Marge performer Martha Swatek specially debunked the rumored gory version of Marge's death too. For Szwarc, the idea was always that the shark would emerge like a behemoth and grab Marge, which is exactly what happens in the final cut. Some fans may be confusing Marge's demise with that of Philip FitzRoyce from Jaws 3-D, who is caught and crushed to death inside the shark's mouth. Unless this alternate edit actually surfaces, it appears rumors of an R-rated version of Jaws 2 are false.
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