Richard Dreyfuss was forced to cancel a planned appearance at a fan event over the weekend after coming down with viral bronchitis.
The Jaws star was scheduled to appear at SharkCon, an event sponsored by National Geographic that took place this weekend at the Florida State Fairgrounds Expo in Tampa. He was expected to take part in photo ops and do autograph signings at the event.
However, in a video posted on the SharkCon Instagram page, Dreyfuss — who appears to be in a hospital bed — shared that he would not be able to attend thsi year’s event.
“Hello, fellow cons,” he started the video. “I am very, very sorry to tell you that I’ve been diagnosed with viral — viral — what is it?” he asked his wife, Svetlana Erokhin, who was off-camera but seemingly recording the video for Dreyfuss. Viral bronchitis, she replied.
“I’ve been told by my doctors I cannot fly, and I would have to fly five hours to get there,” he continued. “I’m terribly sorry because I had planned to be there and had been looking forward to it. But I’m unable to do so. I don’t want to get anyone else sick, and I don’t want to get sicker myself. I feel terrible about not showing up, and I [would] feel worse about exposing you to this apparently very viral illness. But there will be other times, and I will make it my business to show up.”
He ended with a positive message to the fans.
“I want to wish you all good luck and happiness,” he said, then adding with a laugh: “And I want you all to feel very sorry for me.
“And very sorry for yourselves,” he continued. “I’m in a lot of pain. And that has to come first — my health. And I feel very good about having the time and enough health.”
His wife then chimed in: “And such great fans. We love you. We miss you all, and we will see you soon.”
“She’s right,” Dreyfuss said. (Watch the video below.)
In its post, SharkCon said that fans who had purchased “prepaid autographs and photo ops” would be automatically refunded.
According the event’s website, other SharkCon 2025 attendees were scheduled to include Jaws actors Jeffrey Voorhees, Jonathan and Steven Searle, and Carla Hogendyk; Jaws 2 castmembers John Dukakis and G. Thomas Dunlop; and Jaws 3-D actors John Putch, Jackie Kuntarich Cook and Liz Smith.
Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg, is set to get a 50th-anniversary rerelease on Aug. 29 in AMC Theatres.