The Gods Of Filmmaking

James Cameron

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Piranha II:  The Spawning (1981)

Starring Tricia O’Neil, Steve Marachuk, Lance Henriksen, and Ricky Paull Goldin.  Cinematography by Roberto D’Ettorre Piazzoli.  Edited by Roberto Silvi.  Produced by Chako van Leeuwen and Jeff Schechtman.  Written by H.A. Milton.  Directed by James Cameron.

An investigation begins after two divers disappear near the wreckage of a sunken ship.  It is soon discovered that there is a school of genetically mutated piranha fish that can fly are on the loose.  Despite the warnings of the investigators the local authorities won’t call of the annual beach fish fry and there’ll be aquatic hell to pay.

The story behind Piranha II:  The Spawning is much more interesting than the film itself.  With the little film experience James Cameron learned from working on Roger Corman’sGalaxy of Terror and Battle Beyond the Stars, he was offered the role as director for the unofficial sequel to the moderately successful Piranha. He knew that the film wasn’t going to be the most prestigious of projects, but with a directorial credit under his belt he could join the Director’s Guild of America which would open a lot of doors for his future.  So he shipped off to Italy, where the modest budget could be effectively stretched, and began production on the film.  Filming proved to be more difficult than he anticipated starting with the fact that very few members of his production crew spoke any English.  He also didn’t have enough money to fully finance the costume and special effects departments.  Much of that work he had to do on his own.  And on top of that there was constant interference from executive producer Ovidio G. Assonitis who watched over Cameron like a hawk.

Before he could finish shooting Piranha II, Cameron was canned by the producers.  He was told that they were not happy with his work and Assonitis went on to finish the shoot himself.  Cameron, in Rome and angry, decided to break into the editing room to see just how bad the film was. He found his film to be pretty decent, considering the story, and did a couple of editing cuts to fix it up a bit. This footage was validation for him that he could actually be a filmmaker and gave him confidence he would need to press on.  When Piranha II:  The Spawning was finally released it was on a very limited distribution and failed miserably at the box office.  It did pick up a little steam however after its release on video and has since become sort of a cult classic.  Cameron disowned the project in the subsequent years, but does give it the credit of being the finest flying piranha movie ever.

Budget:  $2,000,000

Total US Gross:  $???

Genre:  Horror

Runtime:  84 Minutes

US Release Date:  1983

Aspect Ratio:  1.85:1

Awards:  none 

Tagline:  It Started As A Vacation…

Quote:  “We spliced in genes from different species to create the ultimate killer organism.”

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