SHARKS FUEL BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRIES.

Sharks have been integrated into human history since the late Stone Age. One of the first images of sharks is depicted on a ceramic bowl found in the Mediterranean and even the earliest writings describe them as “sea monsters” and “devils”.

July 1916 marked the first time shark attacks turned into a media spectacle. The New Jersey shark attacks on swimmers generated newspaper headlines such as: “Government to aid the fight to stamp out the shark horror” and the term: “Man-Eating Species”. The label as an icon of terror was further expounded in the 20th century through the modern development of the media and the entertainment industry. Since the 20th century, sharks have been found in each and every part of the entertainment industry – movies, series, documentaries, games, printed media, and music, to name but a few. Although many documentaries, books, and media have been produced that show the true nature of sharks and promote conservation in the past decades, the record-breaking numbers still seem to be in the action, horror, and drama genres. People have a fear of sharks and the unknown, and this is what the shark horror movies are based on and succeed at promoting. Add to that the scariness and mystery of the deep ocean, and you hit multiple primal human fears at once. The taglines for the most successful shark movies include: “Don’t get left behind”; “You’ll never go into the water again”; and “Pleased to eat you”. They all introduce one key theme: fear, terror, and horror.

 While it is not possible to assign one single value to what sharks have generated for the entertainment industry, it is easy to gauge the magnitude of the value. Based on accessible figures, some values (not adjusted for inflation and purchasing power to 2022) include:

• Total disclosed earnings for 14 highlighted movies: $2.9 billion

• Shark Week annual revenue estimate: > $60 million

• Hungry Sharks: the monthly revenue estimate per game is $200,000. If even 5% of the 800m downloads generate one transaction at an average value of $3.26, this would imply a total revenue of c.a. $100 million

• Best-Selling Shark Books of All Time cumulative sales estimate based on current Amazon.com prices: > $1.5 millon

• “How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters: Fight Back When Monsters and Mother Nature Attack” sales estimate based on current Amazon.com prices and 250,000 sales: $2.9million

The shark has easily directed in excess of $3.5 billion into the economy from these limited extracted values. This is likely to be a small fraction of the total value considering the diverse range of services the shark provides to the various industries discussed throughout the report. Before we get into greater detail, let’s point out why this is significant and what we should ask ourselves:

• What responsibility do networks, production companies, studios, and famous personalities have in changing the public’s perception and in changing the trajectory of shark conservation? With the rapid decline of shark populations around the world, massive action is needed. The media and entertainment could be the most powerful instrument to accomplish things that currently seem impossible. 

• How much is invested in protecting sharks? It is important that the industry begins to recognize that sharks are a major asset that has been fueling their success for decades. To protect this asset for future financial and ecological sustainability, sharks require reinvestment to survive and thrive.

• As a major contributor to the economy, these industries are stakeholders that should be present in policy discussions and shark population management decisions. Agencies that make these decisions need to broaden their view on where the long-term value lies with regard to shark management.

APEX PREDATOR ON THE BIG SCREEN

When considering the income potential for big screen movies, the easier numbers to access are usually budgets and box office earnings. What isn’t as easily counted are merchandising and the vast range of jobs that are created, both for production companies and in the locations where the movies are made. Most shark movies have been more popular than expected, and have raked in billions of dollars at the box office and other merchandise sales. Sharks seem to be the perfect movie villain. But that fact has done them a great disservice as they have become one of the most-feared animals on this planet.

 Since the 1932 “Tiger Shark”, the popularity of using sharks in movies has increased. The budget for this movie was $375,000, and the box office income reached $879,000.

In 1971 came “Blue Water, White Death”, which is still believed to be one of the greatest wildlife documentaries.

In 1975 the movie “Jaws” broke all previous records. With a budget of $9 million (2022 equivalent: $48.9 million) and box office income of $472 million (2022 equivalent: USD 2.6bn). This blockbuster was the first major production that was filmed on the ocean. It resulted in 3 sequels and an explosion of the killer shark movies genre in the 1970s and 1980s. The Jaws page on Facebook has over 1.4m likes, which shows continued popularity.

Many movies followed in the ’70s and ’80s, such as: “Sharks’ Treasure”, “Mako: The Jaws of Death”, “Shark Kill”, “Tintorera”, “Cyclone”, “Bermuda: Cave of the Sharks”, “Great White”, and “Deep Blood”.

1978 the Jaws sequels began with “Jaws 2”, “Jaws 3-D” (1983), and “Jaws 4: The Revenge”.

To date, the box office earnings for the four Jaws movies are close to $800 million.

THE NEXT ERA OF SHARK MOVIE BOX OFFICE HITS

The release of “Deep Blue Sea” with the tagline “Bigger, Smarter, Faster, Meaner” revitalized the shark movie genre in 1999. The movie had a production budget of $60 million (2022 equivalent: $105.3 million) and grossed more than $165 million (2022 equivalent: $289.5 million) worldwide.

Three other hybrid-style modified shark movies followed with “Hammerhead” (2005); “Spring Break Shark Attack” (2005); “Shark Swarm” (2008), and “Island of the Sharks”.

“Open Water” (2003) a horror movie with scarily real shark attacks, took box office incomes of $55 million (2022 equivalent: USD 87.4m).

“Shark Tale”. (2004) a big budget film had a worldwide box office income of in excess of $371.7 million (2022 equivalent: USD 575.2m): “Sharks 3D” (2005) generated a worldwide box office income of $14 million (2022 equivalent: $21 million); “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl” in 3D, - returned over $69.4 million (2022 equivalent: $103.9 million) worldwide.

Other shark movies followed including “Swamp Shark” (2011), “Ghost Shark” (2013), “3Headed Shark Attack” (2015), and “Zombie Shark” (2015).

 Then, from 2013 to 2018, came the six “Sharknado” movies. “Sharknado 5” had a budget of USD 5m (2022 equivalent: USD 6m) and has made since then in excess of $789 million. Some reports state a total franchise gross of $4.5 billion, but this number is not easily verifiable.

“The Shallows” (2016) brought back the terror of swimming in the sea. With a budget of between $17 million and $25 million (2022 equivalent: $20.7 to $30.5 million), it generated returns of around $115 million (2022 equivalent: $140.1 million).

 “47 Meters Down” (2017) - budget of $5.5 million (2022 equivalent: $6.6 million, earned more than $40 million ($47.7 million). “47 Meters Down: Uncaged” was the sequel (2019).

 “The Meg” had a worldwide box office return, including domestic video sales, of over $527.3 million (2022 equivalent: $613.5 million).

“Maneater” is slated for August 2022, continuing the trend in monster shark movies.

BATTLE OF THE TITANS: SHARK WEEK VS SHARKFEST

Two titans annually battle it out over sharks. These are Discovery Channel’s Shark Week and National Geographic’s SharkFest. They have turned into mega franchises in their own right with millions of viewers tuning in to the streamed programs.

Shark Week came into being in 1987. Over the past 30 years, viewer ratings have hit record highs. It was estimated that, in 2015, Shark Week alone generated advertising, merchandising, and other product sales revenue of a minimum of $60 million. In 2018 more than 35million viewers tuned into Shark Week, and, in 2020, Shark Week was broadcast in more than 72 countries and became “the longest running event in cable TV history”. This has resulted in Shark Week becoming a phenomenon like no other.

National Geographic’s SharkFest, premiered in 2013. The 2022 10th anniversary of SharkFest is expected to be the biggest ever and will include 30 hours of brand new content and 60 hours of “enhanced” programming. National Geographic does not disclose the revenues that it earns from SharkFest. Their ratings are also steadily going up every year.

Across this industry, some episodes bank on the dramatic storytelling focused on the fear factor of sharks, simply because it creates suspense and attracts a certain type of viewership. Many of the shows are also educational and focus on scientific projects. The future challenge for both networks will be to find the balance between hype and sensationalistic stories and to be a positive voice for sharks by showing the true nature of sharks and supporting conservation.

LOCATIONS AND PRODUCTION COMPANY EARNINGS

Interest in sharks has risen, and, over the past 30 years, there have been in excess of 500 documentaries/episodes on sharks, including the Shark Week and SharkFest episodes. The earnings and jobs generated within the film/tv production studios, independent production companies as well as in the many locations around the world where sharks can be filmed, are important contributors to economic numbers to be calculated. However, this was beyond our capacity at this time. In the next version of this report, we will hopefully be able to tackle these numbers and add them to the total.

ANIMATION

The family adventure movie “Finding Nemo” (2003) had box office returns of over $871 million to more than $930 million (2022 equivalent: $1,383.6 million to more than $1,477.4 million) worldwide.

“Shark Tale” is a 2004 production by DreamWorks which was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Animated feature category. It made more than $370 million (2022 equivalent: $572.5 million) worldwide.

SERIES AND DOCUMENTARIES

Sharks are the subject matter of many great documentaries. Some of the most famous series are those with Sir David Attenborough, the BBC sharks, and episodes such as “Smart Sharks”, “Great Barrier Reef”, “A Perfect Planet”, “Vanishing Sharks”, and “Our Planet”.

But there are many notable documentaries, many of them produced by independent filmmakers, such as:

• “Blue Water, White Death” (1971)

• “Sharkwater” (2006)

• “Galapagos: Realm of Giant Sharks” (2012)

• “Mission Blue” (2014)

• “Shark Girl” (2014)

• ”Of Shark and Man” (2015)

• “Rise of the Great White Shark” (2017)

• “Shark Water Extinction” (2018)

• “Fin” from Discovery+ (2021)

• “Playing with Sharks: the Valerie Taylor Story” (2021)

• …and many more

In addition, from 2015 to 2021, three Sharknado documentaries were produced:

• “Sharknado: Feeding Frenzy” – a documentary about the series production

• “Sharknado: Heart of Sharkness” – a “mockumentary” about the story

• “The Real Sharknado”, aired during Shark Week 2021 to debunk many of the myths from the six movies

PLAYING WITH SHARKS: GAMING

 Sharks are the central theme of several high-profile games and mobile apps. Examples are: “Sharknado: The Video Game”, “Sharknado VR”, “Jaws Unleashed”, “Maneater”, “Feeding Frenzy”, “Feeding Frenzy 2”, and “Jaws: Ultimate Predator”.

The Hungry Shark games franchise consists of seven titles. In 2018 the series had reached in excess of 500 million downloads. Ten million downloads occurred in the six days after it was released. On iTunes in June 2022 alone there were 400,000 downloads and revenues of $200,000 for “Hungry Shark World”. August 2021, Ubisoft announced the celebration of 10 years for the Hungry Sharks franchise. The company stated that some of the achievements over the years included:

• More than 800 million downloads

• 2.2 billion game loops

• 148.5 million hours of gameplay

• 1,133 trillion points scored

• 312 million times exploded

Within two years of the “Hungry Shark World” 2016 launch, the game is estimated to have made $10 million in global iOS revenues.

SHARKS MAKING MUSIC AND MUSICALS

The soundtrack for Jaws, composed by John Williams, was an Academy Award winner and ranked by the American Film Institute as the “sixth greatest film score”. In 2019  “Baby Shark” became an international hit. It was even sung at the World Series in the USA, on the streets of Lebanon, and all around the world. The YouTube video of “Baby Shark” hit 10 billion views after it became the “most viewed YouTube video of all time”. While the actual number has not been determined, it is estimated that this resulted in the Pinkfong company earning multi-millions of dollars. The value of Baby Shark is likely to grow, with the rumors of a Baby Shark movie being produced by Nickelodeon Animation and due to be released in 2023. The Baby Shark NFT was sold out within 30 minutes in December 2021.

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT, MERCHANDISE & COLLECTABLES

Popular theme parks like Universal Studios in Florida, Hollywood, and Japan, capitalized on the popularity of “Jaws” and opened the Jaws-inspired theme park rides. On Amazon.com alone, there are over 20,000 results from a “shark toys” search, and then there is AliExpress and Walmart, and many, many more who actively promote shark toys. Clothing and accessories and costumes range from Jaws blankets to shark fin headbands; hoodies to socks and everything in between.

In 2013, following “Sharknado” and “Shark Week”, shark-inspired clothing and merchandising hit the market – from cupcakes to baby clothes; and shark fin style hats with “Bite Me” on them to oven mittens. An official Jaws supersize commemorative was marketed to: “Honor the most feared villain in cinematic history”. Jaws trading cards are also popular, and rarer ones are currently being sold by the famous auction house, Sothebys. This clearly demonstrates the effect of shark movies, documentaries, and the like.

SHARKS IN PRINT: MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS & BOOKS

Sharkmania followed after the release of Jaws. Cover pages and stories playing on the image of the Jaws movie poster were appearing on magazines ranging from Playboy to Mad Magazine. One of the most famous books about a shark is Jaws, published in 1974 and written by Peter Benchley. It has sold 20m copies and the hardcover made 44 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. Newspapers and news media have been capitalizing on common headlines including:

• “Last night off the coast 50ft monster”

• “Life saver killed in shark attack”

• “Second bather killed by shark, state official and resort men plan patrol for man-eaters”

• “Just when we thought it was safe to go back in the water”

 SOCIAL MEDIA SHARKS

Influencers are an integral part of modern marketing and entertainment. They have been at the forefront of promoting sharks and events like Shark Week and SharkFest. Some have followers that exceed 3 million and can earn USD 8,568 per post. Ten of the larger Instagram shark influencers have between 200,000 and 3,200,000 followers. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, these influencers have the pulling power to earn, on average, between $933 and $8,568 per post.

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SPECIAL THANKS

Endangered Wildlife OÜ and Shark Allies would like to thank the Pelorus Jack Foundation for their financial support of this report.