Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe redefined what a film franchise was and even before Star Wars showed how world-building could create timeless stories waiting to be told, film was in a different place. Dramas and action films were largely standalone and were often praised because of how original and compelling these stories were with the means filmmakers had at the time. Around the mid 1970s, Steven Spielberg's Jaws was one of the biggest films to push special effects and performances to the limit.
Jaws helped to usher in the summer blockbuster and showed that spectacle doesn't mean that story has to be sacrificed. It also paved the way for future films to go even bigger. But next to Jaws, the James Bond franchise had also hit its stride by introducing Roger Moore's character in the movie, Live and Let Die. But even though the film was released two years before Jaws, it didn't stop Spielberg from acknowledging the film and even loosely teasing that the story existed in a similar reality to Bond's, according to one theory.
Jaws Has an Ingenious Tie to Live and Let Die
To understand the Easter egg found in Jaws, it's important to understand the premise of Live and Let Die and the reasoning it was used in Jaws. For starters, the 007 film took Bond out of Europe and directly to the United States, specifically Louisiana, where he combated a voodoo-centric villain. It gave the film a supernatural twist that hadn't been seen in the franchise before and showed how Moore's version of the character would be campier than what came before.
In Jaws, the Easter egg came when a Tiger Shark that fishermen caught off of Amity's shores was believed to be the one responsible for at least two deaths. As Matt Hooper began to cut open its stomach and explore the contents, he tossed Martin Brody a license plate from Louisiana that said "007981" with the years 1972 and 1973 on it. Of course, the years were also the ones that Live and Let Die was filmed and released, and the "007" helped confirm it. The Sportsmen's Paradise phrase was also shown in the Bond film. But why would Spielberg offer such a niche nod to the series?
Why Steven Spielberg Included a 007 Easter Egg
At the time, Spielberg had a strong desire to film a James Bond film and likely would've done anything to do so. In fact, his future films -- like the Indiana Jones franchise -- showed a character who was similar to Bond, though skewed more toward adventure films. Even then, those films showed that Spielberg had an eye that would've worked well for Bond. Sadly, he never got to make a movie in the franchise, though there's still hope it could happen. However, his Easter egg could've changed the Jaws universe in a much more unexpected way.
By acknowledging James Bond in the Jaws universe, it loosely acknowledged that the film, or the story itself, existed in the universe. As a result, it's possible that during one of Bond's adventures, there were three men facing mortality to try and kill a massive Great White Shark. It's admittedly a stretch but one that makes the world of Jaws even more exciting as James Bond could've possibly existed in it. While there's no way to confirm the theory, the Easter egg did show how much of an impact Bond had on the world -- and even Spielberg -- that the spy could be shown anywhere and in any film.