Update: "Piranha 3DD" writer Patrick Melton updated Daily Dead telling them a U.S. theatrical release is still on track, as the movie recently test screened to good results, and Dimension Films have given the film additional funding to spruce up the special effects. You can read his full comments at Daily Dead.
Update #2: "Piranha 3DD" director John Gulager says the movie will hit theaters this spring. You can read his full comments at Shock Til You Drop.
Perhaps best remembered in pop culture infamy for its naked underwater ballets, rampant shots of silicone filled bosoms, and a scene where several small piranha puke up a human phallus in glorious 3D, 2010's “Piranha 3D” reimagining/remake managed to scare up enough box office heat for the House of Weinstein to greenlight a sequel, subtly titled “Piranha 3DD,” almost immediately after the filmed bowed in theaters back in August 2010.
Since then, the release date was bumped from a Thanksgiving weekend 2011 slot to sometime in 2012, and a trailer dropped around Halloween with all the blood and boobs fans of “Pirahna 3D” could ask for. Now a bit of news has come from across the pond that seems to put the nautical horror film’s theatrical release in question, as Digital Spy is reporting that Entertainment Film Distributors withdrew the movie from the U.K. theaters with plans for it to be released directly to DVD and Blu-Ray on March 19, 2012.
Is that rotten fish we smell? Let’s recall that “Pirahna 3D” was actually a critically well received dose of camp horror that translated to a respectable gross at the box office. Dimension Films, the genre arm of The Weinstein Company, were quick to get the motor running on this reportedly $20-million dollar budgeted film, but along the way lost much of the first film’s cast and crew (though Ving Rhames, Paul Scheer and Christopher Lloyd are back). We’re left with replacements by the likes of David Hasselhoff and Gary Busey, and “Feast” director John Gulagher, who memorably made that film in front of cameras for the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck-produced series “Project Greenlight” and is certainly no stranger to direct-to-DVD fare. Considering the first boasted talent like "Party Down"/“Parks and Recreation” star Adam Scott and the venerable Elisabeth Shue, this feels like a downgrade.
We’re guessing that if the film were to release theatrically in the U.S. prior to the UK DVD release, we’d know a date by now. Seeming as we don’t, we’re left to speculate that this release date limbo doesn’t bode well for audiences who like their horror with a dash of camp. We’ll have to wait and see how this one plays out, but it seems like 3D blood and boobs will have to be enjoyed in the comfort of your own home.