piranha Tagged Articles at Cinematical

We already heard that the flesh-hungry piranhas are heading all the way to our eyeballs with Piranha 3D. Now they're getting an excellent tough lady to defeat them. Variety reports (about a week after FEARnet did) that Elisabeth Shue will star in Alexandre Aja's remake of Piranha, which starts shooting next month. She'll play a town sheriff who tries to save both the lake and her family from the angry fishies, while Adam Scott (Step Brothers) helps out as a diver for the US Geological Service who helps discover the sharp-toothed killers.

If this was just a good actress delighting in some campy horror, that'd be great -- just like spoofing herself in Hamlet 2. But as a well-liked actress who just can't seem to get steady, worthy work, this news is quite disappointing. All she seems to score these days are horror films and sappy family fare. I'm sorry, but the Oscar-nominated actress from Leaving Las Vegas is worth more than an equine-loving Dreamer or human-hungry piranhas. She's the unstoppable babysitter of the '80s, for cripes sakes!

Luckily, she's got a drama (Waking Madison) and a Western (The Hard Ride) on the way. Do you think either can elevate her back to serious, in-demand actress?

In 2006, Joe Dante told us it was coming.

In 2007, we learned of the French connection.

in 2008, I'm telling you that it will be in 3-D.

In 2009, we will have a new movie called ... Piranha!

According to the rotten one over at STYD.com, Dimension's remake of the Joe Dante / John Sayles mini-classic is now scheduled for release on July 24, 2009. And I'm sure that date will stick because the Weinsteins never change release dates over and over on their aquatic horror movies. (Seriously, where the hell is Rogue already?) But the news gets even campier...

3-D! Yes! The plot -- "a tremor causes Arizona's Lake Havasu floor to open, setting free scores of prehistoric piranhas" -- will be in service to that awesomeness known as 3-D exhibition! Hundreds of gross, ugly, scary, ravenous piranhas ... in 3-D! The spirit of William Castle is alive and well and living in the Weinsteins' attic. I refuse to let the fact that one of the co-writers penned Good Luck Chuck deter me: A 3-D Piranha remake from the guy who directed High Tension: Bring it on.

There has been a lot of buzz lately about the Piranha remake, and word that Alexandre Aja, the High Tension master, was going to helm it. It's time to either rejoice or moan horror fans, as the rumors have turned out to be true. Variety has reported that the French filmmaker will re-make the 1978 film. It's only fitting that he take the helm, considering the names that are connected with it. The original is a Joe Dante and John Sayles parody of Steven Spielberg's Jaws, and the sequel, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning was directed by none other than James Cameron. Hmm... Are underwater toe nibbles the key to future directorial success?

It seems that Aja's plan is to make the remake an homage to the "creature films that made me fall in love with the genre." He's already gearing to do a rewrite of the script from Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg. In the current fishy incarnation, Spring breakers are cavorting around Lake Havasu, Arizona, when a tremor that opens ground beneath the lake and unleashes ravenous piranhas into the water. The film is under the Dimension umbrella, and Bob Weinstein says of the plan: "We will maintain the fun and thrilling aspects of the original film but look forward to upping the ante with a modern-day twist." I can only assume that this twist will be in the form of much more gory piranha feasts and humorous, yet tense, filmmaking. Is anyone else ready for those crazy little fish and sharp-as-hell teeth?

While chatting with iFMagazine about his entry in the Masters of Horror series (Homecoming), movie geek hero guy Joe Dante dropped word that a remake of his The Howling is almost certainly getting underway. The veteran filmmaker also expresses some confusion as to why people might want to remake his Piranha -- but as far as I know ... that remake is already in production!

Frankly the idea of a Howling remake is pretty darn silly, especially when you think back and remember how much of the movie had to do with those silly "new age group communes" that were all the rage in the late '70s. But hey, why let logic get in the way of the exploitation of a groovy title like "THE HOWLING"?