Piranha 3D

The Film

In Lake Victoria Arizona, a tremor causes the lake’s floor to open, setting free scores of prehistoric piranhas. They’re back! Every year the population of sleepy Lake Victoria explodes from 5,000 to 50,000 for a single, wild weekend – the 4th of July, a riot of sun, drunken fun and sex-crazed mayhem. But this year, there’s something more to worry about than hangovers and complaints from local old timers. Lake Victoria sits in the crater formed by a prehistoric volcanic eruption, and when earth tremors tear open a crack in the lake floor, all hell breaks through. Piranhas – a million ravenous, razor-toothed monsters, unchanged since the dawn of time. Unstoppable killing machines acting blindly under one primeval impulse: to hunt down anything that moves and strip it to the raw, bleeding bone. In seconds.

Alexandre Aja (born 7 August 1978 in Paris, France) is a French film director who rose to international stardom for his 2003 horror film Haute Tension (known as High Tension in the US, and known as Switchblade Romance in the UK) His real name is Alexandre Jouan-Arcady and his pseudonymous surname is formed of the 3 first letters of his full name.

Aja, who is Jewish, is the son of French pied-noir director Alexandre Arcady and French cinema critic Marie-Jo Jouan. His wife is Moroccan filmmaker Laïla Marrakchi. He made his directorial debut at the age of eighteen with the short film Over The Rainbow, which received a Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm Award nomination for best short film. In 1999 he directed Furia, a movie based on Julio Cortázar’s short story Graffiti. Haute Tension, released in 2003 in France and 2005 in the USA, placed Aja on the map for the horror movie genre. A recent project is a horror film entitled Mirrors, about a mysterious mirror that brings out the worst aspects of people whenever they look at themselves in it.

In 2004, Aja was named to the Variety – Ten Directors To Watch list. He is a member of the so-called Splat Pack, a term coined by film historian Alan Jones in “Total Film” magazine for a new wave of directors making brutally violent horror films.

So now he directs Piranha 3-D, the horror movie about prehistoric piranhas in Arizona which is Dimension Films’ remake of Joe Dante’s classic from 1978.

In an interview with MTV News, he expressed a desire to pay his respects to his heroes (mentioning Dante, Cameron, Tobe Hooper, and Wes Craven). Aja hopes to employ the latest 3D technology in a groundbreaking way. “Something I’ve been trying to do for almost ten years now is trying to make movies where the audience is not watching a story or watching some actors but where the audience is crossing the screen and getting on the other side of the mirror, if you will, and lives the nightmare of the screen with the protagonist. When James Cameron said that he wanted to go back and reinvent 3D technology, I always thought with my writing and producing partner that it would be the best tool to create the best horror movie. When people are a version of the audience inside the movie, what is the best thing in 3D to create the full-immersion? I think it’s only logical to use the horror genre for 3D to become even more efficient.”

Aja admitted that had he had to pass up a lifelong dream of meeting Cameron when scheduling conflicts forced him to turn down a set-visit to meet with his lifelong hero. “I got invited on the set of [Avatar],” Aja explained, “but I had to location scout and couldn’t attend… It’s like the biggest shame of my life. It was just impossible. I was so pissed off.”

I look back on Piranha extremely fondly from my youth, and have vivid memories of the swarms of fish racing towards the camera as innocent victims splashed and larked about upstream, blissfully unaware of their fate, so the idea of a remake immediately puts me on the defensive (though I admit the concept lends itself very well to the 3D format).
From his back catalogue, it seems Aja is a quite hit and miss, but he genuinely seems to have respect for the source material and will hopefully put everything he has into this movie.
Aja should “supply enough gore to cause a slump in the sushi industry.” Better gore than the economy. Aja’s Mirrors failed to exploit a concept last summer that was done much better in 1988’s ominous Poltergeist III. With Piranha 3D, this could the cross-over hit he needs to become a go-to man for higher profile horror/genre gigs.

Elisabeth Shue

Shue is playing the role of Sherrif Julie Forester, a take-charge authority figure in the community of Lake Victoria – where the action/ankle-biting takes place. She’s the mother of Jake (one of the central characters in the film – the shy teenager who gets to prove his worth when human-eating fish threaten his family and friends), Laura and Zane. Shue teams up with a Geological Service diver (Adam Scott) to try to save the local lake – and her family- from an outbreak of hungry fish.

Full name, Elisabeth J. Shue born October 6 (some sources cite June 10), 1963, in Wilmington, DE (some sources cite South Orange, NJ); daughter of James (a lawyer and real estate developer) and Anne (a bank executive; maiden name, Wells) Shue.

Her first movie role happened in 1984, when she co-starred in The Karate Kid as the onscreen girlfriend of Ralph Macchio. She continued with Adventures in Babysitting (her first starring role), She also appeared in Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III as Jennifer Parker.

Although often recognized for her girl next door image, Shue starred as a prostitute in the 1995 film Leaving Las Vegas with Nicolas Cage. The role earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She was also nominated for a BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG Award for Best Actress, and won the Best Actress awards at the Independent Spirit Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards and the National Society of Film Critics Awards.

Adam Scott

Comedy star Adam Scott is making the jump to horror movies,
He is playing the role of Novak who is a USGS geologist who encounters the killer fish while diving in the lake.
Adam Scott (born April 3, 1973) is perhaps best known for his role of Palek in the HBO drama Tell Me You Love Me, Party Down, Knocked Up and the supporting role of Derek Huff in the 2008 comedy Step Brothers, starring with Will Ferrell as his biological brother and John C. Reilly.

Richard Dreyfuss

Oscar winner and Jaws star Richard Dreyfuss has won a part in the schlock-tastic Piranha 3-D as well. Dreyfus will reportedly play a role (cameo?) that pays homage to his marine biologist character in the original “Jaws.”

Richard Dreyfuss (Richard Stephen Dreyfus, born October 29, 19470 is known for starring in a number of films, television and theater roles since the late 1960s. He is probably best known for his roles in Jaws, The Goodbye Girl, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Always, Mr. Holland’s Opus, and most recently, the 2008 bio-pic W.as former Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney.

Ving Rhamess

Irving Rameses “Ving” Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is a Golden Globe-winning American actor.

He plays a cop in this movie. He is known for his bald head and distinctive baritone. Ving Rhames was a stalwart supporting actor throughout the 1990s, most notably in the role of crime boss Marsellus Wallace in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994). In 1998 Rhames had the lead role in the film Don King: Only in America. His other films include Bringing Out the Dead (1999, with Nicolas Cage), Lilo & Stitch (2002) and Dawn of the Dead(2004).

Christopher Lloyd

Christopher Lloyd, the mad, crazy doctor from “back to the future” has joined the quickly growing cast of Piranha 3D. He will star as Mr. Goodman, an expert on piranha. “Doc” bites it in this one as good guys finish last.

Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is a three-time Emmy Award-winning American actor known for his gruff, eloquent voice. He is well known for his portrayals of iconic characters such as Emmett “Doc” Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, and Reverend Jim Ignatowski on television’s Taxi.

There are several actors who can be instantly identified to a single character role. For Lloyd, single character recognition is impossible. He has captivated both critics and audiences alike with his winning portrayals of quirky, off-beat characters; portrayals that have taken him to untold dimensions.

Jerry O’Connell

He is starring as Derrick Jones in the movie

Jeremiah “Jerry” O’Connell (born February 17, 1974) is best known his roles in the TV series Sliders, Vern Tessio in the film Stand by Me, Charlie Carbone in Kangaroo Jack, Ben in Obsessed and Detective Woody Hoyt on the drama Crossing Jordan.

Dina Meyer

Dina Meyer is playing “Paula” is going to be victimized by man-eating prehistoric piranhas.

Dina Meyer (born December 22, 1968 or June 15, 1969.) is best known for her roles in Starship Troopers and the Saw films.

Jessica Szohr

According to Variety, “Gossip Girl”’s Jessica Szohr has been added to the Piranha 3D cast, playing a local girl enjoying spring break in her small town when all hell breaks loose.
Jessica Karen Szohr (born March 31, 1985) is best known for playing Vanessa Abrams on Gossip Girl.