Steven Spielberg Is Very Regretful For The Amount Of Damage Caused By THIS Movie

With the release of "Jaws" at the early age of 27, Steven Spielberg rose to the status of one of the most highly acclaimed Hollywood film filmmakers, a position he has since maintained by directing a number of other enduring motion pictures.

However, despite having his shelf filled with numerous awards and having the privilege of being recognized as one of the best in the games, Spielberg has a few things he feels bad about, one of which is the detrimental effect "Jaws" had on the shark population,

In a recent interview, he expressed regret about the shark killing frenzy that followed the success of the movie - a sentiment shared by Peter Benchley, who authored the book that inspired the film.

Read on to learn more.

Spielberg, 76, revealed in a recent interview with BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs that he feels guilty about the declining shark population in the wake of the huge success of his 1975 film, "Jaws."

The movie, which was set in a summer resort town, followed a man-eating shark that devoured beachgoers, leading to the carnivore being hunted by a team that included a police chief, marine biologist, and shark hunter.

The movie was released a year after the bestselling eponymous novel, which inspired the film, became available on bookshelves.

"I truly and to this day regret the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film. I really, truly regret that" the three-time Academy Award winner reflected, per The Hollywood Reporter.

He added, "That's one of the things I still fear. Not to get eaten by a shark, but that sharks are somehow mad at me for the feeding frenzy of crazy sport fishermen that happened after 1975."

After seeing how "Jaws" warped the mindset of thousands of fishermen to think that the sea creature was solely a man-killer, Peter Benchley, the author of the book on which the movie was based, came out to publicly apologize for how his book had triggered the killing frenzy.

"Jaws was entirely a fiction," he told the London Daily Express in 2006, per THR. "Knowing what I know now, I could never write that book today."

"Sharks don't target human beings, and they certainly don't hold grudges," he added. "There's no such thing as a rogue man-eater shark with a taste for human flesh. In fact, sharks rarely take more than one bite out of people, because we're so lean and unappetizing to them."

Benchley has since devoted a portion of his life after the book's publication to organizing campaigns to sensitize people not to go out of their way to hunt sharks.

Regardless of the negative consequences that came as a result of the film, "Jaw" has gone on to be a classic that pioneered several new concepts in the film industry.

Its masterful storytelling, music, and editing won it several awards, including three Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA award.

Part of its uniqueness came from the fact that the mechanical shark, which was used as a prop, kept breaking down, which forced Spielberg to figure out a creative plan to "create suspense and terror without seeing the shark itself."

The filmmaker now credits the then-innovation as the reason why the movie was able to elicit more emotions in the viewers.

Spielberg said, per THR. "It was just good fortune that the shark kept breaking. It was my good luck, and I think it's the audience's good luck, too, because it's a scarier movie without seeing so much of the shark."

Just age 27, when he helmed the film, "Jaws" catapulted Spielberg to rub shoulders with the best directors in Hollywood.

Since then, he has received praise for his innovative approaches to filmmaking and has experimented with nearly every movie genre, including ones that have attracted significant fan support, such as "Jaws."

Some of his iconic movies include two installments of the "Jurassic Park" franchise, "Schindler's List," "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," and the "Indiana Jones" series.

He recently directed the romantic musical drama "West Side Story." His latest film, "The Fabelmans," which had its world premiere in September, has since garnered widespread critical acclaim for its acting, Spielberg's direction, cinematography, and screenplay.