San Diego Comic-Con attendees hoping to catch a glimpse of director Alexandre Aja’s fish-&-chicks frightener Piranha 3-D this week will have to jump ship from the convention center to the Regal Horton Plaza. According to a press release from The Weinstein Company, the decision to screen a trailer from the film away from the convention was made shortly after event organizers sunk the studio’s plan to showcase R-rated footage during its Piranha Q&A panel.

The panel will now be held on Thursday, July 22 from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Regal Horton Hotel.

Director Aja explains :

It doesn’t make sense to go to an event like Comic-Con and not show what the movie is…It’s frustrating because I was so excited to show this at Comic-Con – I made the movie for that crowd.

The offending footage in question is set at a wet T-shirt contest in the fictional spring break town of Lake Victoria which is overrun by bloodthirsty piranha after an underwater earthquake. The clip includes graphic gore and bodacious coed boobs.

Piranha 3-D opens Aug. 20 and stars Elisabeth Shue (Hollow Man), Jerry O’Connell (Mission to Mars),Ving Rhames (Day of the Dead), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Richard Dreyfus (Jaws), Adam Scott (The Return), Dina Meyer (Saw IV), Jessica Szohr (House at the End of the Drive), porn star Riley Steele, and model/actress Kelly Brook.

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