Celebrated actor Michael Caine appeared in more than 100 movies across his career, but surprisingly, he never watched a certain film of his that was part of an $800 million franchise. Michael Caine began his movie career in 1950 with small roles in movies and theater productions before gaining his breakthrough role as Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead in the 1964 British historical drama Zulu. He gained recognition for his Cockney accent, which he distinctively used in early movies, including The Italian Job (1969), Battle of Britain (1969), and throughout his role as Harry Palmer in The Ipcress Files series (1965-1996).

Caine later proved his skills as a dramatic and comedic actor throughout the 1970s and 1980s, through his roles in The Man Who Would Be King (1972), Educating Rita (1983), Little Voice (1988) and the Dark Knight trilogy, which have been ranked as some of Michael Caine’s best movies. Throughout his career, he received six Academy Award nominations, winning two in the Best Supporting Actor category, and collaborated with Christopher Nolan in eight different movies. Michael Caine confirmed his retirement from acting in 2023, having starred in 160 movies, but despite his impressive career, there is one movie from 1987 that he has never watched.

Michael Caine Has Never Watched His Performance In Jaws: The Revenge

Michael Caine Played Hoagie Newcombe In Jaws: The Revenge

In 1987, Michael Caine was cast in the role of Hoagie Newcombe in the fourth installment of the Jaws franchise, Jaws: The Revenge. Throughout the movie, Caine’s character, Hoagie, works as a pilot and takes an interest in Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary), who is visiting the Bahamas with her son Michael (Lance Guest) and his family to recover from the death of her youngest son, Sean (Mitchell Anderson), from a shark attack. Despite including one of the Jaws franchise’s most terrifying scenes, the film was critically panned upon release and has been ranked as one of the worst movie sequels ever made.

In the years following the movie’s release, Michael Caine has admitted that Jaws: The Revenge was “one of the worst movies [he] did” throughout his career (via Biography). The movie received seven nominations at the 8th Golden Raspberry Awards, with Caine receiving a nomination for Worst Supporting Actor for his performance as Hoagie Newcombe. Jaws: The Revenge has been ranked as one of Michael Caine’s worst movies of his career, and he has admitted that he has never considered watching it, saying in interviews, “I have never seen the film, but by all accounts, it was terrible.”

Michael Caine Missed Accepting An Oscar Because Of Jaws: The Revenge

Caine Won Best Supporting Actor For His Role In Hannah and Her Sisters

The development of Jaws: The Revenge was recognized as very tumultuous and difficult as the movie was rushed into production in September 1986 so it could be released in the summer of 1987. The movie’s script was written in only five weeks, there were consistent technical problems with the mechanical sharks, and negative responses from test audiences required the ending of Jaws: The Revenge to be hastily refilmed. In interviews, director Joseph Sargent admitted to the Boston Herald (via Last Movie Outpost) that he considered Jaws: The Revenge to be “a ticking bomb waiting to go off” and blamed the rushed production for the movie’s failure with critics.

The last-minute reshooting of Jaws: The Revenge’s ending meant that Universal wasn’t able to allow Michael Caine to travel to Los Angeles to attend the 59th Academy Awards ceremony. Considered one of Woody Allen’s best movies, Caine won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in Hannah and her Sisters and wasn’t available to collect his award in person; his co-star, Dianne Wiest accepted the award on his behalf. Caine later admitted that he had asked Universal if they could reschedule filming but was informed that it was not possible as “[they’re] stuck with the boats and the traps” (via TIME).

Michael Caine Does Not Regret His Role In The Lowest-Ranked Jaws Movie

He Used His Salary From Jaws 4 To Buy A House For His Mother

Despite being one of the lowest-ranked movies of his career, Michael Caine has stated that he has no regrets about taking on his role in Jaws: The Revenge. In his 1992 memoir, What’s It All About?, Caine explained why he agreed to star in Jaws: The Revenge, revealing that he was offered a salary of $1.5 million for a week of filming. As Caine was experiencing a lull in his acting career at the time, he accepted the role as the salary helped him and his family with building a new house in Oxfordshire, England.

Caine revealed that he also used his salary from Jaws: The Revenge to buy a house for his mother, out of graтιтude for her paying for his acting classes when he was younger, later stating “I’ve seen the house [the movie] bought for my mum. It’s fantastic!” (via Irish Independent). He also brought his family on vacation in Hawaii during filming, stating in his memoir that Jaws: The Revenge “will go down in my memory as the time when I won an Oscar, paid for a house, and had a great holiday.” Michael Caine’s statements show that he managed to make his time working on Jaws: The Revenge into a positive experience – despite never watching the final movie.

Sources: Biography, Boston Herald (via Last Movie Outpost), TIME, Irish Independent,