Piranha sequel to be set in Japan

The terror of Piranha returns with a splash in a new setting beneath the Japanese coast. It’s a sequel and a fresh take for the sea-faring franchise.

The film centers on a scientist creating a new hybrid species of Piranha and Tuna fish. They can survive in saltwater, but their unstable mutation makes them a deadly threat. Now the beauty of Japan’s sea will run red because of their scaly nightmare.

This latest entry will be titled Piranha: Pacific Nightmare. Stephen Christensen will direct the new entry to the aquatic franchise. It’s the sixth entry of the franchise that started in 1978. Original producer Hidalgo Tsukaba is returning to oversee the project. Tsukaba and Christensen have worked with each other in the past on the 1995 film Raging Angels. Roger Corman was attached to the project before he died in 2024. He will be credited as an executive producer.

The project was originally targeted to release in 2018, but a troubled production and the pandemic caused the project to go silent. It’s been 14 years since the last installment, Piranha 3D in 2012. Christopher Lloyd, who played Carl Goodman, is rumored to be joining the cast. Casting is still underway as well as a campaign to raise funds for the film on the site Camp Fire. 

IX Film Group Inc. and Red Beans Pictures are the production companies behind the project.