<a href="https://todaytrendnews7.com/down-45-is-spacex-stock-a-ticking-timebomb/” title=”Down 45%, is SpaceX stock a ticking timebomb?”>DOWNTOWN
Saenger Summer Movie Series to showcase classic Spielberg, Williams duo
Troy MoonPensacola News Journal
July 19, 2026, 4:04 a.m. CT
The Pensacola Saenger Theatre has seen a lot in its 101 years. It’s housed orchestras, symphonies, opera and rock concerts
But soon, the “Grand Dame of Palafox” will be filled with two simple, repeating haunting notes, E and F, that have shaped nightmares for decades. Especially when you accompany those ominous notes with a blood-thirsty shark
Yes, the classic 1975 summer blockbuster andforever classic “Jaws” will be shown at the Saenger Theatre on July 26 kicking off the theater’s 2026 Summer Movie Series “The Sound and the Story: Five Decades of Steven Spielberg and John Williams.”
Of course, Spielberg is the celebrated American director, and Williams is the acclaimed American composer and conductor who has composed many of the best-known film scores in history and is noted for his collaboration with Spielberg on some of the greatest film blockbusters in cinema history
The 2026 Saenger Summer Movie Series lineup features one film from each decade beginning in the 1970s:
- Jaws (1975) – July 26
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) – Aug. 2
- Jurassic Park (1993) – Aug. 9
- Catch Me If You Can (2002) – Aug. 16
- Lincoln (2012) – Aug. 23
Each film begins at 3 p.m. and tickets are $7 for each screening
“Certainly, there have been notable film composers before John Williams and even notable director/composer collaborations—Blake Edwards and Henry Mancini, for instance—but I think the Spielberg/Williams collaboration brought something new to the medium − the movie score as a movie character,” said Mike Suchcicki, former and longtime Pensacola News Journal feature writer who was the newspaper’s primary pop culture expert and media reporter for many years. “Consider the duh-DUM, duh-DUM, duh-DUM of the ‘Jaws’ score or the famous five notes of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.’ Or even the ‘Imperial March’ of ‘Star Wars,’ which lets the viewer envision the Emperor before they even get a good glimpse of him. Spielberg changed the cinematic landscape forever, but a lot of credit goes to John Williams, who made Spielberg’s movie moments special.”
For an hour preceding each screening, various local musicians will perform on “Lola,” the Saenger’s 1925 Robert Morton Theatre Organ, which debuted with the theatre in spring of 1925. Before the Saenger’s opening, a Pensacola News Journal headline read “Great Organ is Very Latest in Musical Design.”
Full concessions will be available at all performances, including themed drink specials and specially curated combo offerings for children and adults. For more information or tickets, visit pensacolasaenger.com or contact the Saenger Theatre Box Office
The Saenger Theatre is at the heart of Palafox at 118 S. Palafox St
