Michael Myers and a whole lot of others! It seemed like the perfect storm for the prehistoric fishes. An opening weekend with no real new competition coming out. Sure VAMPIRES SUCK would grab a percentage of the horror crowd but it's a different demo-graph when comparing possible PIRANHA 3D movie goes to TWILIGHT franchise spoofers. So how did PIRANHA 3D fail in the first place and how do we blame fish for taking down mighty horror franchise and icons like Michael Myers? Read on to find out...

Follow up:

Doesn't seem like a situation you want to be in does it? A company hedging their bets on admittedly cartoonish over the type mutant fish. But that's exactly the situation the Weinstein Company found their self in this weekend and the numbers don't look good.

A while back we reported that THR in an interview with Bob and Harvey Weinstein said that certain stars would need to lineup to get the company back on its feet creating horror again. Due to a lulling economy and some bad box office moves the Weinstein Company found themselves trying to stay a float in shark (rather, piranha) infested waters. Praying their two upcoming films had the money making power to right the ship. Both PIRANHA 3D which cost roughly 30 million to make and SCREAM 4 which is being made in the 40 million dollar ballpark region, it was these films and their abilities to turn a profit that other franchises were hinging on. Franchises like HALLOWEEN, HELLRAISER, CHILDREN OF THE CORN, SCARY MOVIE and many others may not see the light of day.

The disheartening facts behind this speculation is the numbers. PIRANHA 3D couldn't even break into the top 5 in its weekend debut. Last weeks front runner THE EXPENDABLES edged out of all movies VAMPIRES SUCK by a few million dollars. What does that say about the current horror culture? We're actually not real sure. Was PIRANHA 3D not marketed right? Should it have been marketed more as a remake, which it was? Was it bad timing? The summer is almost over would this not have been a great Spring Break film? Were actors like Christopher Loyd and Richard Dryfuss not billed right? Many things needed to line up and they didn't. So where do we stand?

Best case scenario at this point one would think is PIRANHA 3D makes its money back in theaters. It's a longer shot than we hoped but possible. This is more of an "in home" movie in the first place so expect it to do well on DVD/Blu-ray with the tons of different versions and as many un-rated stickers they can plaster over the box. It may gather a cult status and help put it over the edge but this was not what Bob and Harvey were hoping for, make no mistake about that.

If you're sitting there happy that HALLOWEEN and HELLRAISER won't see more of the remake treatments then you've won a small battle but regardless if we like remakes or not they bring in the money. Its good for the genre at the end of the day. It brings in new generations of fans. Will this effect other franchise big time players such as FRIDAY THE 13TH and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. Sequels are there ready to be made but will they now? Will it all come down to GHOSTFACE and SCREAM 4? It very well may.

A lot and we mean a LOT hinged on these CGI fish and it's not their fault. Too much was probably put on their shoulders (or lack there of). Even though the film got rave critical reviews PIRANHA 3D may just not be the kind of horror film American's want to see right now. The over the top, gory, nudity driven films of yesteryear may have looked good on paper but the risk may have proved too great this day and age. It was a great test but it failed. Let's hope much like back in the 80's (where a film like this would have probably been better appreciated) that the video run will outweigh the theatrical release. We shall see. Until then feast on the estimated box office number below and speculate away as to where the genre goes from here.

1 —–The Expendables —–$16,500,000 —– Total: $64,890,000

2 —–Vampires Suck —–$12,200,000—– Total: $18,564,000

3 —–Eat Pray Love —–$12,000,000 —– Total: $47,100,000

4 —–Lottery Ticket —–$11,125,000—– Total: $11,125,000

5 —–The Other Guys —–$10,100,000 —– Total: $88,190,000

6 —–Piranha 3D—– $10,035,000—– Total: $10,035,000

7 —–Nanny McPhee Returns —–$8,310,000 —– Total: $8,310,000

8 —–The Switch —– $8,100,000 —– Total: $8,100,000

9 —–Inception —–$7,655,000—– Total: $261,848,000

10 —–Scott Pilgrim vs. the World—–$5,034,000—– Total: $20,730,000

Source: Various