Piranha 3DD
Piranha 3DD is a 2012 American 3D horror comedy film. A sequel to the 2010 film Piranha 3D, it is part of the Piranha film series and was directed by John Gulager from a screenplay by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton. It stars Danielle Panabaker, Matt Bush, David Koechner, Chris Zylka, Katrina Bowden, Gary Busey, Christopher Lloyd and David Hasselhoff.
Piranha 3DD | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | John Gulager |
Produced by | Mark Canton Marc Toberoff Joel Soisson |
Written by | Patrick Melton Marcus Dunstan Joel Soisson |
Based on | Characters by Peter Goldfinger Josh Stolberg |
Starring | Danielle Panabaker Matt Bush David Koechner Chris Zylka Katrina Bowden Gary Busey Christopher Lloyd David Hasselhoff |
Music by | Elia Cmiral |
Cinematography | Alexandre Lehmann |
Edited by | Devin C. Lussier Martin Bernfeld Kirk Morri |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Dimension Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 82 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $5 million[2] |
Box office | $8.5 million[3] |
Production began on April 27, 2011 with a release scheduled for November 23, 2011, but a month prior to release, the date was revised, and the film was eventually released in the United Kingdom on May 11, 2012, and the United States on June 1, 2012.
Plot
A year after the massacre on Lake Victoria by piranhas, an eradication campaign has left the lake uninhabitable, and the town has been largely abandoned. At Cross Lake, two farmers search the waters. Piranha eggs that have been laid inside a dead cow hatch, and the farmers are killed.
Maddy returns home for the summer to the water park she co-owns. She finds that the other owner, her stepfather Chet plans to add an adult-themed section to the waterpark. At a party at the waterpark Maddy encounters her ex-boyfriend Kyle and Barry, Ashley, and Shelby. Shelby and her boyfriend Josh go skinny-dipping in the lake, where a piranha enters her vagina. Ashley and Travis begin to have sex in their van, but Ashley trips the handbrake, causing the van to roll into the lake. Handcuffed to the van during foreplay and unable to escape, Travis is devoured while Ashley, on the roof, calls for help. With no one around, the van sinks into the lake and she is eaten by the piranhas.
Maddy consoles Shelby about their friends when they are attacked by a swarm of piranhas. They manage to kill one, and Maddy, Kyle and Barry take it to marine expert Carl Goodman to examine. He informs them that the piranhas may be moving between lakes, and that they could evolve to become terrain-viable. The trio return to the lake, where they establish that the piranhas cannot make their way into the pipes connecting the lake and the water park. While Shelby and Josh are having sex, the piranha in Shelby's vagina bites Josh's penis, forcing him to chop it off. Both are hospitalized, but survive. Kyle is revealed to be corrupt and taking bribes from Chet, who is pumping water from an underground river into the water park.. Chet orders Kyle to keep Maddy from finding out about his plans.
The adult water park opens. Among the guests are Deputy Fallon and former cameraman Andrew Cunningham. While the duo attempts to overcome their fear of the water after they were attacked a year ago. Maddy attempts to shut the waterpark down but is stopped by Chet and Kyle. The piranhas make their way to the area and attack, killing many. Fallon attaches a shotgun prosthesis to his legs, while David Hasselhoff rescues a small boy. Chet refuses to help any survivors, including Kiki, who is eaten. He reluctantly offers some cash to a young girl whose mother is dead, but then accidentally reverses over her with his golf cart. As he attempts to drive off to safety, Chet is decapitated by a cable when he is distracted by a fleeing woman in a bikini.
Maddy instructs Barry to begin draining the pools; however, while rescuing people, she becomes caught in the suction and is dragged down to the bottom of the pool. After Kyle refuses to save her because of his fear of piranhas, despite being unable to swim, Barry leaps down and brings her to the surface, whereupon Maddy is revived. She and Barry kiss.
Another employee, Big Dave, pours chlorine into the pipes, followed by a lit joint. The resulting explosion kills most of the piranhas, while Kyle is killed by a falling trident. The celebrations are cut short when Maddy takes a phone call from Mr. Goodman, who informs them that the escaped piranha are evolving and are now able to move on land, to which Maddy replies she knows. The film ends as a piranha emerges from the pool and decapitates the small child who Hasselhoff saved. The survivors take pictures of the dead child on their phones.
Cast
- Danielle Panabaker as Maddy
- Matt Bush as Barry
- David Koechner as Chet
- Chris Zylka as Kyle
- Katrina Bowden as Shelby
- Gary Busey as Clayton
- Christopher Lloyd as Carl Goodman
- David Hasselhoff as Himself
- Ving Rhames as Deputy Fallon
- Adrian Martinez as Big Dave
- Paul Scheer as Andrew Cunningham
- Clu Gulager as Mo
- Jean-Luc Bilodeau as Josh
- Meagan Tandy as Ashley Sorby
- Paul James Jordan as Travis Mitchell
- Sierra Fisk as Bethany
- Matthew Lintz as David (Freckled Boy)
- Sylvia Jefferies as Young Mother
- Irina Voronina as Kiki
Production
In October 2010, Dimension Films announced that they had secured John Gulager to direct the film, based on a script by Saw 3D scribes Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. Filming was intended to take place between January 17 and February 18 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with a release date set for August 2011,[4] but this became impractical because of cold weather and the requirement for most of the cast to be wearing little or no clothing.[5] In March 2011, production on the film was delayed, and Joel Soisson was brought in to produce the film and rewrite the Dunstan-Melton script.[6]
Principal photography began in Wilmington, North Carolina on April 25, 2011,[7][8] with parts of filming occurring at Jungle Rapids water park and Shaw-Speaks community center. Soisson stated that in choosing a shooting location he was looking for an "iconic America town" that "could be anywhere". Soisson also indicated that tax rebates and the variety of geography in North Carolina had convinced them to choose the location over the alternative of Louisiana.[9]
Filming was completed on May 27, 2011, after 33 days,[10] with three weeks of filming occurring at the Jungle Rapids water park.[11] The film was shot using 3D rigs, as opposed to converting the film to 3D in post-production.[12] Piranha 3DD was cinematographer Alexandre Lehmann's first 3D film.[13] Devin C. Lussier and Martin Bernfeld were hired to edit the film.[14]
Release
The film was initially scheduled to be released on November 23, 2011,[15] but a several month delay in the commencement of filming meant the November deadline could not be met.[5] A month prior to the scheduled November release, the date was pushed back to an unspecified 2012 release.[16] On March 3, 2012, it was announced that the film would be released simultaneously to theaters and through video on demand services.[17] On March 14, it was announced that the film would be released on June 1, 2012 in the United States.[18] The movie was released on May 11, 2012 in the UK.[1] In the United States, it received a limited release, being shown in only 75 theaters.[19]
Box office
The film made a small impact during its debut weekend of release in the United Kingdom. Its box receipts during its opening weekend were just £242,889, placing it at number 8. A lower-budget film that was not a new release, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, reached #7, one place above Piranha 3DD.[20] By the end of its limited run, it garnered a total UK box office of $688,269.[3]
The film did not do well in North America either. It grossed $376,512 during its 3-week run.[3] In total, Piranha 3DD did significantly better internationally, accumulating 95% of its $8,493,728 gross overseas, and narrowly scraping a profit.
Home media
The film was released in the United States in a 3D Blu-ray "combo pack", Blu-ray, and DVD, with all three editions containing digital copies, on September 4, 2012. In the United Kingdom, it was released on DVD and Blu-ray 3D (with a 2D Blu-ray version included) on September 3, 2012. The film was distributed earlier to rent via Redbox. The DVD is known as Piranha DD.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 13% based on 53 reviews, with an average rating of 3.30/10. The website's critical consensus states: "It strains to up the gore and self-awareness of its predecessor, and—despite some game celebrity cameos—the result is a dispiriting echo of 2010's horror-comedy."[21] On Metacritic, it has a score of 24 out of 100 based on 13 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[22]
Leslie Felperin of Variety gave the film a negative review, stating, "[The movie] ups the self-parody so much that it's practically a Wayans Brothers spoof, albeit with fewer jokes."[23] Ben Rawson-Jones gave the film a scathing review, with a rating of 1/5 stars, and was highly critical of the use of 3D and direction, despite his enjoyment of the original film.[24]
References
- "PIRANHA 3DD (18)". British Board of Film Classification. May 1, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
- Dickson, Evan (September 3, 2012). "Screenwriters Patrick Melton And Marcus Dunstan Talk Nudity, Extremes And Hasselhoff In Piranha 3DD". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
- "Piranha 3DD". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- Fleming, Mike Jr. (October 19, 2010). "Dimension Chomping to Get 'Piranha 3D' Sequel Into Theaters Next Summer". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
- "'Piranha 3DD' trailer hits the Web". Wilmington Star News. March 1, 2012. Retrieved March 2, 2012.
- Clint, Caffeinated (March 27, 2011). "Exclusive: Piranha 3DD hooks horror vet!". Moviehole. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
- Chitwood, Adam (April 25, 2011). "PIRANHA 3DD Starts Production". Collider. Complex Media. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
- "Production begins on 'Piranha 3D' sequel". USA Today. Gannett Company. April 27, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
- Tucker, Brian (June 5, 2011). "Q&A with 'Piranha 3DD' producer Joel Soisson". Star-News. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
- Tucker, Brian (May 29, 2011). "'Piranha 3DD' producer returns to Port City 25 years after 'Trick or Treat'". Wilmington Star News. Archived from the original on February 23, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
- Wax, Alyse (June 29, 2011). "Exclusive: Danielle Panabaker Gives Us Our First Taste of 'Piranha 3DD'". Fearnet. Horror Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 2, 2011. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
- Eggertsen, Chris (November 12, 2010). "Gary Tunnicliffe Confirms 'Piranha' Sequel Will Be Shot in REAL 3-D!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
- Tucker, Brian (June 6, 2011). ""Piranha 3DD" producer Joel Soisson talks about filming and Wilmington". Wilmington Star News. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
- Decker, Sean (June 9, 2011). "Exclusive: Director John Gulager Talks Piranha 3DD and More!". Dread Central. Dread Central Media. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
- Finke, Nikki (May 25, 2011). "Weinstein Dates 'Our Idiot Brother', 'I Don't Know How She Does It', 'Apollo 18', 'Piranha 3DD'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
- Turek, Ryan (October 13, 2011). "You'll Have to Wait a Bit Longer to See Piranha 3DD". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline Media. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
- Zeitchik, Steven; Fritz, Ben (March 3, 2012). "Dimension Films seeking a comeback". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
- Nicholson, Max (March 13, 2012). "Piranha 3DD Gets a Release Date". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
- Lesnick, Silas (March 13, 2012). "Piranha 3DD Gets a Release Date". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline Media. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
- Martin, Daniel (May 16, 2012). "'Avengers Assemble' holds UK box office number one for third week". NME. TI Media. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- "Piranha 3DD (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
- "Piranha 3DD Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
- Felperin, Leslie (May 16, 2012). "Piranha 3DD". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
- Rawson-Jones, Ben (May 11, 2012). "'Piranha 3DD' review: "No titillation, just desperation..." - Movies Review". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
External links
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