The original film was based on a novel written by Peter Benchley, which itself was inspired by the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916. Benchley would adapt his own work, along with help from Carl Gottlieb and Howard Sackler, into the 1975 film Jaws, which was directed by Steven Spielberg. Although Gottlieb would go on to pen two of the three sequels, neither Benchley or Spielberg would return to the film series in any capacity.