After directing the iconic horror film that launched his career, Steven Spielberg shifted gears to a completely different genre for his next Hollywood blockbuster.
Spielberg was only 27 when he directed Jaws, the classic horror shark film, for Universal Pictures. Initially, there was fear that the film would sink Spielberg’s career, as Jaws went well over budget and 104 days past shooting schedule.
But upon its release in the summer of 1975, Jaws smashed all expectations and became the highest-grossing film in history. Jaws carried that record for two years before Star Wars (1977) set a new record.
Though Star Wars headlined the list of Hollywood films for 1977, Spielberg also happened to release his second career blockbuster that same year.
Spielberg’s first post-Jaws blockbuster, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, was released on Nov. 16, 1977. The sci-fi classic starred Richard Dreyfuss (whom Spielberg worked with on Jaws) as Roy Neary, Teri Garr (Ronnie Neary), Melinda Dillon (Jillian Guiler) and François Truffaut (Claude Lacombe).
According to Rotten Tomatoes, Close Encounters of the Third Kind follows Neary after he “witnesses an unidentified flying object, and even has a ‘sunburn’ from its bright lights to prove it. Roy refuses to accept an explanation for what he saw and is prepared to give up his life to pursue the truth about UFOs.”
Close Encounters of the Third Kind grossed $306.89 million globally, according to Box Office Mojo. The film was nominated for eight Oscars, with Vilmos Zsigmond winning the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Other nominations included Spielberg (Best Director), Dillon (Best Supporting Actress) and John Williams (Best Original Score).
‘Empire’ Ranked ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ as Spielberg’s Seventh-Best Film
Photo by Columbia Tristar/Courtesy of Getty Images)
In his June 2026 rankings of every Steven Spielberg film, Ben Travis of Empire ranked Close Encounters of the Third Kind at No. 7. For what it’s worth, Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981) took the top spot.
“Given huge freedom after Jaws had devoured the box office, Spielberg went back to his earliest work, the UFO thriller Firelight — its themes of obsession and wonder (as well as several specific shots) were tractor-beamed into Close Encounters,” Travis wrote. “What the 18-year-old Spielberg didn’t have to hand back then was John Williams. The musical sequence he landed on as the means by which humanity makes contact with aliens might be his most potent: there’s hope, and beauty, and wonder, and communion, all rendered in five tentative notes.
“While E.T. is his most thoroughly Spielbergian extra-terrestrial film, Close Encounters feels like the one that he desperately needed to make — and it’s the one that cemented him as a filmmaker of phenomenal vision who could communicate huge feelings without words. The last 10 minutes are properly transcendent.”
Related: Steven Spielberg’s 1975 Shark Movie Still Holds a Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score
