Jonathan Searle appeared on the big screen in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 movie Jaws, playing one of the young Amity Island kids that wears a fake shark fin in the water to prank the entire beach. Shot in part in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, Searle was a local and one who stayed. Now to make things even more interesting (and bring it all full circle to Jaws), he’s been elected police chief of the community. “I’m clearly elated and and I’m humbled and honored to have been offered the position,” Searle told The Vineyard Gazette after the town board voted to hire him for the position. Searle’s father George Searle previously served in the role of police chief in Edgartown from 1981 to 1995 according to the outlet.
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Hopefully when Searle assumes the role of police chief, set to occur in June, it won’t coincide with the arrival of a 25 foot Great White Shark that’s making the beach its own buffet. According to The Vineyard Gazette, Searle has been a part of the police force since 1986, starting just 11 years after the premiere of Jaws. They note that he recently “lead an initiative called Project Outreach, teaming up police officers with recovery coaches to help get Islanders struggling with addiction into treatment programs.”
Despite three poorly received follow-ups, Jaws has yet to find its way to getting the reboot or legacyquel treatment. Unlike some of the films from Spielberg’s filmography it has remained a crown jewel of his career. A report from earlier this year revealed that the director was asked by Universal Studios if he’d be interesting in allowing a reboot to happen, with word coming down that he gave them a “firm” no as an answer. While the Jurassic Park series has ballooned to six movies and a fifth Indiana Jones is on the way, the waters of Amity Island will remain still.
“I would never remake one of my own movies — starting with Jaws,” Spielberg previously told Deadline about the prospect of remaking the film. “But there are Amblin titles in the library that could inspire new stories that were made popular by the films. There isn’t a single title that I’ve earmarked, but yes, I would like to. I will be discussing that with Jeff (Skoll) and Ronnie (Meyer) and Donna (Langley).”
