New World’s Expensive Avalanche Was Rushed Into Production—Then Beaten by Its Own Piranha

Scandals & Feuds4/5 wildness

New World’s Expensive Avalanche Was Rushed Into Production—Then Beaten by Its Own Piranha

Avalanche (1978) / 1970s

The eight-week shoot at Colorado’s Purgatory Resort and the Lodge at Tamarron was conducted under severe scheduling and budget pressure. Director Corey Allen later said that heavy demands were placed on line producer Paul Rapp to finish ahead of schedule, and he believed those pressures damaged the finished film: “I don’t feel the aims of the film were fulfilled.” The irony was that Avalanche was treated by New World as a major, relatively mainstream release because it had established stars including Rock Hudson and Mia Farrow, while the company released it alongside the lower-budget creature feature Piranha. Roger Corman later acknowledged that New World expected Avalanche to be the bigger success, but Piranha ultimately won the commercial contest because, in his retrospective judgment, it was funnier and better directed. Avalanche became one of New World’s most expensive productions yet failed at the box office, turning its rushed production strategy into an expensive miscalculation.