How's how Howard The Duck bombing - and a fistfight over who gave it a greenlight - led to Jaws: The Revenge being produced. The original Jaws became the first summer blockbuster in 1975, and was such a hit that a sequel was quickly greenlit. However, by the time Jaws 3D arrived in 1983, it appeared audiences were already over the series. While Jaws 3D was still a success despite receiving largely terrible reviews, the third entry was a tired, suspense-free affair that relied on its 3D to generate any excitement.
However, the three movies were hugely profitable for Universal, so a fourth Jaws - about a group of surfers facing off with a megalodon - was put into development. In the meantime, the studio scored more successes such as Back To The Future, but they had a poor year in 1986 following the weak performances of movies like Psycho III and Robert Redford comedy Legal Eagles. Easily their biggest bomb was Howard The Duck, which was based on the Marvel comic character. The movie - which was executive produced by George Lucas - received poor reviews on release and while it has attracted something of a cult following, it's still one of the biggest studio bombs of its era.
In 1986, it was reported in publications like the Los Angeles Times that then-Universal chairman of the motion picture group Frank Price and MCA President Sid Sheinberg had gotten into an actual fistfight over Howard The Duck's failure. The story goes that the two men - who were not on good terms for several reasons - started arguing about the movie's failure at Universal’s executive building. When Price pointed out it was Sheinberg, and not he, who actually greenlit Howard The Duck, the fight turned physical. Price was soon out of Universal and Sheinberg fast tracked Jaws: The Revenge for a summer 1987 release, as he felt it was a guaranteed success.
In fact, Sheinberg's greenlight was so abrupt it only left the filmmakers with nine months to make the movie from scratch. Sheinberg also scrapped the version of Jaws 4 that Price had been developing, stating in an interview he “... thought it was an atrocious idea." The Jaws movie franchise continued to be profitable for Universal even after the third movie received bad reviews, and reportedly the fourth movie was a way for the studio to promote its upcoming Jaws ride at Universal Studios in Florida.
The sequel also gave the lead role to Lorraine Gary, who played Ellen Brody in the first two entries while also being the wife of Sheinberg. While Jaws: The Revenge didn't bomb like Howard The Duck, it did attract some equally harsh reviews and became the lowest-grossing of the series. To date, no other sequels have been produced either, though talk of a new entry or remake occasionally surfaces.