Alexandre Aja will write and direct Dimension Film's upcoming Piranha
remake, almost 30 years after the original opened in 1978.

Atmosphere Entertainment founder Mark Canton, currently enjoying
success with 300, is producing along with Marc Toberoff from IPW, Aja
himself, and Gregory Levasseur.

Alix Taylor, J Todd Harris from IPW, and Chako VanLeeuwen from Chako
Film will serve as executive producers.

Toberoff and Harris assembled the rights, developed a draft screenplay
and brought it to Canton and Atmosphere

Just as Rob Zombie is bringing a new vision to his remake of Halloween
for Dimension, so Aja will take the story of Piranha in a new
direction.

Piranha takes place in the Arizona resort of Lake Havasu, where
seismic activity unleashes a school of ravenous fish on a group of
students on Spring Break.

'My goal is not to remake Piranha but to create a completely new
adventure paying homage to all the creature films that made me fall in
love with the genre,' Aja said. 'It is the ultimate popcorn movie that
pits beer-soaked, sunburned spring breakers against killer,
bloodthirsty animals.

'I am very proud to follow the path of Joe Dante and James Cameron in
the Piranha franchise, and look forward to working with Greg
Levasseur, to write, produce and direct such a fun and gory thrill
ride.'

'The original Piranha was one of my favorite horror movies,' Canton
said. 'Alexandre Aja's contemporary, cutting edge vision for the new
film, combined with the passionate commitment that Bob and Harvey
Weinstein, Richard Saperstein and The Weinstein Company/Dimension
Films team have for the project, should result in a high-end brand
movie that will scare audiences out of their seats.

'On a personal level, I've been looking forward to working with Harvey
and Bob for a long time and am delighted that it's come to fruition
with this exciting, ground-breaking genre film.'

Richard Saperstein, president of production for Dimension Films,
Matthew Stein, senior vice president of production, and Steve Barnett,
senior vice president of production and development, will oversee the
project on behalf of Dimension Films.

Andrew Kramer, executive vice president of business and legal affairs,
negotiated the deal on behalf of Dimension Films. Adam Kaller of Behr,
Abramson & Kaller, and William Morris Agency represented Aja in
negotiations.