For a couple months, we have been tracking the development of a new entry in the PIRANHA franchise that is being executive produced by Roger Corman and produced by PIRANHA rights holder Hisako Tsukuba (a.k.a. Chako van Leeuwen). A Japanese production, the new film was going by two different titles – PIRANHA JPN in Japan and SUMMER OF THE PIRANHA internationally.
Well, we can forget about that SUMMER OF THE PIRANHA title, as it seems Corman wasn't particularly impressed with it. He also found the PIRANHA JPN title to be a bit lacking and thought a subtitle might help it "encapsulate" the film.
At the suggestion of Roger Corman, the title of this new film is now PIRANHA JPN: TEETH OF THE PIRANHA.
The legendary producer announced the title on his Facebook page:
Last week, I announced a new addition to the PIRANHA franchise, but something still seemed off to me. I called my producing partner and told her I didn't think the title had enough BITE.
I believe a title should encapsulate an entire film: Humanoids From The Deep, Attack Of The Crab Monsters, The Slumber Party Massacre, Sharktopus. I said we needed a title that immediately captured the horror of our story, and I suggested, PIRANHA JPN: TEETH OF THE PIRANHA. She laughed and said she loved it, so that's what we're going to call it.
-RC
Now we have that all straightened out, but we still don't know much about what they're planning to bring us with this project – just that it's set in Japan, the search is underway for a Japanese director, the budget is around $3 million, the killer fish will be a tuna-piranha hybrid, there will be a giant "Mother Piranha" in the film, and PIRANHA 3D / PIRANHA 3DD co-star Christopher Lloyd is in the cast.
PIRANHA JPN: TEETH OF THE PIRANHA is expected to be released sometime in 2018.
Behind-the-scenes shot of PIRANHA 3D's Riley Steele