Development and writing Universal wanted a sequel to
Jaws early into the success of the original film. Brown said that Spielberg did not want to direct the sequel because he felt that he had done the "definitive shark movie". The director later added that his decision was influenced by the problems the
Jaws production faced – "I would have done the sequel if I hadn't had such a horrible time at sea on the first film." Despite Spielberg's rejection, the studio went ahead with plans to make the sequel, leading to an arduous 18-month pre-production process.
Howard Sackler, who had contributed to the first film's script but chose not to be credited, was charged with writing the first draft. He originally proposed a
prequel based on the sinking of the
USS Indianapolis, the story relayed by Quint in the first film. Although Universal president
Sidney Sheinberg thought Sackler's
treatment for the film was intriguing, he rejected the idea. On Sackler's recommendation, theatre and film director
John D. Hancock was chosen to helm the picture. Hancock began filming in June 1977. However, after nearly a month of filming, Universal and
MCA executives disliked the dark, subtle tone that the film was taking and wanted a more lighthearted and action-oriented story. Additionally, Hancock ran into trouble with Sheinberg, who suggested to Hancock and Tristan that his (Sheinberg's) wife, actress
Lorraine Gary (Ellen Brody), "should go out on a boat and help to rescue the kids." When told of the idea, Zanuck replied, "Over my dead body." The next draft of the film's screenplay was turned in with Gary not going out to sea. Hancock says that this, and his later firing of another actress who turned out to be a Universal executive's girlfriend, contributed to his own dismissal from the film. Hancock began to feel the pressure of directing his first epic adventure film "with only three film credits, and all small-scale dramas". The producers were unhappy with his material, and on a Saturday evening in June 1977, after a meeting with the producers and Universal executives, the director was fired. He and his wife
Dorothy Tristan left for
Rome and production was shut down for a few weeks. The couple had been involved in the film for eighteen months. Hancock blamed his departure on the mechanical shark, telling a newspaper that it still could not swim or bite after a year and a half: "You get a couple of shots, and [the shark] breaks." Echoing the first film's production,
Carl Gottlieb was enlisted to further revise the script, adding humor and reducing some of the violence. Gottlieb wrote on location at
Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It cost the producers more money to hire Gottlieb to do the rewrite than it would have if they had hired him in the first place. Production designer
Joe Alves (who would direct
Jaws 3-D) and
Verna Fields (who had been promoted to vice-president at Universal after her acclaimed editing on the first film) proposed that they co-direct it. The request was declined by the
Directors Guild of America, partly because they would not allow a DGA member to be replaced by someone who was not one of its members, and partly because they, in the wake of events on the set of
The Outlaw Josey Wales, had instituted a ban on any cast or crew members taking over as director during a film's production. The reins were eventually handed to
Jeannot Szwarc, best known for the film
Bug and whom Alves knew from working on the TV series
Night Gallery. Szwarc recommenced production by filming the complicated water skiing scene, giving Gottlieb some time to complete the script. Three new mechanical sharks were constructed for the film. The first was the "platform shark", also referred to as the "luxurious shark". Special mechanical effects supervisor
Robert Mattey and
Roy Arbogast used the same body mold used for the shark in the first film. The other shark props used were a fin and a full shark, both of which could be pulled by boats. "Cable Junction", the island shown in the film's climax, was actually a floating barge covered with fiber-glass rocks. This was created in order to enable the shark platform to be positioned to it as close as possible (a real island would have hindered this due to the upward slope of the seabed making the shark platform visible). Like the first film, footage of real sharks filmed by Australian divers
Ron and
Valerie Taylor was used for movement shots that could not be convincingly achieved using the mechanical sharks. Many of these photos appeared in Ray Loynd's
Jaws 2 Log, which documented the film's production, similar to the
Jaws Log, a best-selling book written by Carl Gottlieb covering production of the first film.
Location Martha's Vineyard was again used as the location for the town scenes and
Emerald Coast was included on this film. Although some residents guarded their privacy, many islanders welcomed the money that the company was bringing. Shortly after the production arrived in June 1977, local newspaper the
Grapevine wrote: Many residents enjoyed being cast as extras. Some people, however, were less pleased by the film crew's presence and refused to cooperate. Only one drugstore allowed its windows to be boarded up for the moody look that Hancock wanted. "Universal Go Home" T-shirts began appearing on the streets in mid-June 1977. in
Florida When Szwarc took over, the majority of the film was shot at
Navarre Beach in Florida, because the weather was warm and the water was deep enough for the shark platform. The company was at this location from August 1 until December 22, 1977. Boats and parts for their maintenance were purchased from local businesses. One proprietor said that he sold "Universal approximately $400,000 worth of boats and equipment". On one occasion, the Cable Junction Island set, which was built on a barge, broke loose from its anchorage and had to be rescued. Szwarc was contacted one night and told that his island was drifting towards
Cuba. The interior shots of the teen hang-out where they play
pinball were filmed in the original location of the Hog's Breath Saloon on
Okaloosa Island. This restaurant later relocated to
Destin, Florida as its original building was susceptible to hurricane damage. Scheider was contracted to Universal at the time for a three-picture deal, but the studio offered to forgive his failure to fulfill his contractual obligation if he agreed to appear in
Jaws 2. The actor heavily resisted the film, claiming that there was nothing new to create and that people would be watching the film to see the shark, not him.
The Star newspaper reported that Scheider received $500,000 for 12 weeks’ work, plus $35,000 for each additional week that the schedule ran over. Scheider is quoted in Ray Loynd's book
The Jaws 2 Log, saying, "When
Conan Doyle wrote the first
Sherlock Holmes and everyone screamed for more, I don’t think he felt like a professional hack. I see nothing wrong with bringing back a story that gives people a terrific time". The atmosphere was tense on the set, and Scheider often argued with Szwarc. On one occasion, Scheider complained (in front of extras) that Szwarc was wasting time with technical issues and the extras while ignoring the principal actors. A meeting was called with the two, David Brown and Verna Fields, in which Scheider and Szwarc were encouraged to settle their differences. The discussion became heated and a physical fight broke out, which Brown and Fields broke up. Many extras were recruited from
Gulf Breeze High School. The students were paid $3 per hour, well above the minimum wage at the time ($2.30/hr), and reveled in being able to miss classes. Casting director Shari Rhodes requested members of the Gulf Breeze band perform as the Amity High School Band, seen in an early scene in the film showing the opening of the Holiday Inn Amity Shores "Amity Scholarship Fund Benefit". "The GBHS band consisted of approximately 100 members, and band director John Henley chose 28 student musicians, including the band's section known as Henley's Honkers." Universal scheduled their involvement for mid-afternoons to prevent their missing too much time in school. Universal made a contribution of $3,500 to the school and the band for their part in the film. Several other GBHS students were hired as stand-ins or doubles for the teenage actors to appear in the water scenes and to maintain and sail the boats. ==Music==