Iconic Summer Thriller Is Quietly Leaving Netflix in May

Netflix is dropping dozens of movies from its catalog during the month of May, including major titles like the Mission: Impossible franchise, Erin Brockovich, You've Got Mail and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

According to What's on Netflix, Jaws, one of the most iconic thriller franchises in movie history, is also exiting the platform. The famous 1975 summer blockbuster, plus two of its three sequels, will leave Netflix next month.

What 'Jaws' films is Netflix dropping and when?

Netflix is getting rid of more than 40 movies on May 1, including three from the Jaws franchise:

• Jaws
• Jaws 2
• Jaws 3-D

Jaws: The Revenge, the fourth and final installment, is not on the list to be booted, but it doesn't appear to be available in America right now anyway and is awful to begin with.

All four Jaws movies returned to Netflix last July for the 50th anniversary of the original project, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton.

'Jaws' has created a lasting legacy

Released on June 20, 1975 and based on Peter Benchley's 1974 novel of the same name, Jaws set box office records and was the highest-grossing movie of all-time for two years until it was unseated by Star Wars.

The movie won three Academy Awards, one Golden Globe and one Grammy, and regularly appears on various publications' lists of the greatest films of all-time. Jaws also holds a 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Not bad for a movie that one of its biggest stars thought would be "a disaster."

Dreyfuss underestimated appeal of 'Jaws'

In a 2025 interview with USA TODAY, Richard Dreyfuss, who played Matt Hooper, admitted he didn't have high hopes for the movie, which experienced a number of problems during filming, including breakdowns of the mechanical sharks and a tedious shooting process.

“I thought it was going to be a disaster,” Dreyfuss, 78, said. “Because I couldn’t imagine how Steven was going to overcome all of the problems that he faced every day. I know I went on at least one talk show where I said this is a total disaster. And then I went back on that same show and pronounced myself the stupidest actor in America.”

“When I saw the film all put together, I realized I was a jerk,” he added.