Today's News-Herald

When pollution closed a couple of beaches, when amoebas threatened and when carp died, a lot of Lake Havasu City residents and community leaders wrung their hands and fretted over the bad publicity.

Next month, mutant killer fish will start snacking on Lake Havasu tourists. The business community will cheer and anyone watching is apt to have a very good time. Next month is the premiere of “Piranha 3D,” filmed locally and including a number of local faces in backup and extra roles.

A month out, the film is becoming a marketing juggernaut. A “viral campaign” is working to get buzz about the movie all over the Internet. A more traditional campaign is also in swing. Ads for the movie were seen on televised events surrounding this week’s baseball All-Star game.

“Piranha 3D” was filmed during the summer heat last year. It was originally scheduled for release this spring but was pushed back, presumably to position it better competitively. For the last month, moviegoers have been treated to the trailer for the movie, which offers stunning views of the lake mixed with a lot of gore.

One measurement of the potential financial upside of a film is how much the studios invest in marketing. So far, it looks like “Piranha 3D” could be a surprising winner. We say surprising because horror movies often attract a narrow audience and are deemed great when they are most cheesy and schlocky.

Speaking of cheesy, the “Piranha 3D” website now offers a game in which the player can try to kill the fish. Ha-Ha. That won’t happen on Lake Havasu, er, Lake Victoria, which is the name given to the lake in the movie.

It’s actually good publicity for our city in that, name aside, it will make the area look great to vacation in and explore. Any concerns it could frighten away tourists? Would anyone who thinks the fish are real be smart enough to find their way to here?

We think the whole town is pulling for the tourist-eaters this time around. It all looks like some delicious summer fun.

— Today’s News-Herald