Shortly before the film's release, "Universal Pictures" sued the producers, claiming it plagiarized "Tiburón (1975)," and the Australian distributors, for breach of copyright regarding Peter Benchley's book "Jaws." "Universal" won an injunction, and the film was pulled from theaters.
The video was released in Japan as "Jaws Returns," a supposed "sequel" to "Tiburón (1975)." The box cover art contains the same Jaws font and logo used on all promotional materials for the Steven Spielberg film.
Director Enzo G. Castellari thought about making a sequel, appropriately titled "L'ultimo Squalo 2." It was never made because of the mechanical shark was damaged after shooting.
"Tiburón (1975)" was titled "Tubarão" in Brazil, so this film was released in Brazil as "O Último Tubarão". Hordes of teens who'd grown up watching edited versions of the Roy Scheider flick on TV rushed to the theaters to watch what seemed to be a part of the saga.