Filmmakers and Cast Debut Gruesome New Footage for PIRANHA 3D; Recap Along with Highlights From Q&A

Deemed “too hot for Comic-Con” by the e-mail invite, director Alexandre Aja (High Tension) and a majority of the cast debuted new footage of Piranha 3D Thursday night at the Regal Theater in downtown San Diego. The screening featured approximately 8-10 minutes of new footage from the film (screened in 3D) and was followed by a short Q & A session with the panel including: Alexandre Aja, producer Mark Canton, visual designer Neville Page, Eli Roth, Adam Scott, Jerry O’Connell, Steven McQueen, Elisabeth Shue, Kelly Brook, Riley Steele, and Paul Scheer.

If I had to encapsulate the footage previewed into a single word it would be “ridiculously insane.” All right so that’s two words. Nevertheless, when there is that much blood crammed into less than ten minutes, one word just can’t do it justice. Hit the jump for details of the footage as well as some highlight quotes from the panel.

Consisting of several randomly arranged sequences, the new footage set up the basic jest of the film as simply as possible: a college spring break goes horribly awry when juiced-up piranhas show up to the party. As an audience member, do you really need to know anymore than that? This film assumes that you do not and never looks back from there.

Without giving too much away, here are a few general “spring break beach rules” I learned from tonight’s screening:

• Never relax on an inter-tube in the water…it’s not safe
• Never participate in a wet t-shirt contest on a boat…it’s not safe
• Never jump back into the water after Ving Rhames orders you to evacuate the beach…it’s not safe
• Never let your hair down around boat propellers…it’s really just not safe
• Think twice before letting paramedics carry you away from clear and present danger…well, you get the idea

I’ll end my analysis with a comparison. During the panel Eli Roth claimed that in the making of his film Hostel they used 150 gallons of blood. Kill Bill: Vol. 1, he added, used around 300 gallons. Piranha 3D, Roth estimates, used 7,000 gallons. While this may have been a gross exaggeration on his part, after seeing the footage, I’m really not sure whether or not he’s kidding.

Piranha 3D hits theaters on August 20^th. As promised, here are a few quote highlights from the panel:

Alexandre Aja:

(when I asked how the film was going to get an R rating) “The MPAA has already seen a 2D cut and liked it. I’ve yet to show them a finalized 3D cut…we’re hoping they’ll like it too.”

Eli Roth:

“The thing you have to remember is, in France, this is like a children’s show”

“This movie is a horror goregasm”

Adam Scott:

(describing his character) “He’s like Indiana Jones, if Indiana Jones was blowing the shit out of some fish”

Paul Scheer:

“The thing you have to keep in mind is that this film is based on a true story. People really died.”

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