Sharknado

Sharknado
Sharks flying through the air, caught in a tornado. In the background is a ferris wheel. Theatrical release poster
Written by	Thunder Levin
Directed by	Anthony C. Ferrante
Starring	Tara Reid Cassie Scerbo Jaason Simmons John Heard Ian Ziering
Theme music composer	Ramin Kousha
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	David Michael Latt
Cinematography	Ben Demare Jeremy Foden
Editor(s)	William Boodell
Running time	85 minutes
Production company(s)	Syfy Films
Distributor	The Asylum
Budget	$2 million
Release
Original network	Syfy
Original release	July 11, 2013 (2013-07-11)
Chronology
Followed by	Sharknado 2

Sharknado is a 2013 made-for-television disaster film about a waterspout that lifts sharks out of the ocean and deposits them in Los Angeles. It is the first installment in the Sharknado film series. It first aired on the Syfy channel on July 11, 2013, and stars Tara Reid, Ian Ziering, and John Heard. It was also given a one-night only special midnight theatrical screening via Regal Cinemas and NCM Fathom Events, where it took less than $200,000 in the box office across 200 screenings. The film is followed by two sequels, Sharknado 2: The Second One and Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!. The third sequel Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens will air July 2016.

Plot

A freak cyclone hits Los Angeles, causing man-eating sharks to be scooped up in water spouts and flood the city with shark-infested seawater. Bar-owner and surfer Fin sets out with his friends, Baz, Nova, and George, to rescue his estranged wife, April, and their teenage daughter, Claudia, after the bar and boardwalk are destroyed in flooding. While heading to April's home, the group stops in a freeway to save people as flooding causes sharks to attack. George is killed and the group learns of a tornado warning. They arrive at April's house just before the first floor is flooded and shark-infested. Collin, April's boyfriend, is eaten by sharks, but the rest of the group escape unharmed.

Fin stops the car to save the children stuck in the bus from the assaulting sharks. Afterwards, the bus driver is killed by the "H" in the Hollywood Sign. While Nova is driving the car, a shark lands on top of the car and rips the roof off. Fin's hand is cut and the group abandons the car before it explodes. They steal another car and meet up with Fin and April's son Matt, who is found taking shelter at his flight school. They borrow equipment from a nearby storage and Matt and Nova become attracted to each other. Matt and Nova decide to stop the threat of the incoming "sharknadoes" by tossing bombs into them from a helicopter. Two are destroyed, but they are unable to stop the third one.

As Nova fights off a shark that had latched onto the helicopter, she falls out of the helicopter and directly into another shark's mouth. Matt is heartbroken. Baz is also lost in the storm along with Matt's friends Bobby and Luellyn. Ultimately, Fin destroys the last sharknado with a bomb attached to his car and the sharks begin to plummet toward the ground. One falling shark flies directly toward the remaining members of the group. Fin jumps into its mouth with a chainsaw and cuts his way out. He emerges carrying an unconscious but otherwise unharmed Nova. Matt is reunited with Nova, and Fin gets back together with April.

Cast

• Ian Ziering as Finley "Fin" Shepard, an ex-surfer who owns a bar.
• Tara Reid as April Wexler, Fin's ex-wife.
• John Heard as George, a drunk man who spends all his time at Fin's bar.
• Cassie Scerbo as Nova Clarke, a bartender who works for Fin.
• Jaason Simmons as Baz, Fin's right-hand man.
• Aubrey Peeples as Claudia Shepard, April and Fin's daughter who feels left out.
• Chuck Hittinger as Matt Shepard, Fin and April's son in flight school.
• Christopher Wolfe as Collin, April's boyfriend.
• Robbie Rist as Robbie, a bus driver.
• Alex Arleo as Bobby, one of Matt's friends in flight school.
• Connor Weil as Luellyn, one of Matt's friends in flight school.
• Julie McCullough as Jonni Waves, a news reporter.
• Adrian Bustamante as Kelso, a lifeguard.

Production

Sharknado was directed for film studio The Asylum by Anthony C. Ferrante, whose previous directing credits include the horror film Boo, and written by Thunder Levin, whose previous writing credits include the film Mutant Vampire Zombies from the 'Hood!. The film's tagline is "Enough said!" Sharknado is one of many B-movies commissioned by Syfy. Robbie Rist said in an interview that he came upon the film's poster at the American Film Market and became enthusiastic about the concept. When his friend Ferrante said that he had been approached to direct the film, Rist insisted that Ferrante take the job. Rist was given a small role in the film and composed the theme.

Actress Tara Reid said of the film, "It is silly, and there's only a certain amount of barriers you could go into. You can't take it so seriously when it's absolutely the sharks flying in the sky. It's so out there that it's actually really funny." The cast had to imagine the presence of sharks due to a green screen being frequently in use. Ian Ziering stated that he had serious reservations about the script but was motivated, in part, by the need to earn enough to qualify for Screen Actors Guild health insurance for his family.

In an interview with Uproxx's Danger Guerrero, Ferrante summarized the film's plot: "There's a flood. And a storm. Don't worry about it."

Release

The premiere of the film was watched by 1.37 million viewers, which is slightly below the average audience of 1.5 million viewers for a typical Syfy original film. The film was a trend on Twitter, including discussion by celebrities such as Damon Lindelof, Wil Wheaton, and Olivia Wilde and also by Cory Monteith, whose last tweet before his death was about the film. Due to an increase in publicity (mostly through Twitter), Syfy repeated Sharknado on Thursday, July 18, 2013, one week after its premiere. The airing was watched by 1.89 million viewers, an increase of 38% over its initial airing. On July 27, a third airing of Sharknado got 2.1 million viewers, continuing the increase in popularity of the film and setting a record for most watched original film encore in Syfy history. Sharknado is projected to increase revenue for The Asylum from $5 million in 2009 to $19 million in 2013.

A representative of the National Weather Service jokingly recommended what to do in case of a sharknado, saying: "As with any waterspout or tornado, the best advice is to be in an interior part of the lowest floor of a sturdy building – and not outside, whether sharks are raining down or not." Organizations such as the Red Cross of Oklahoma City also used the film as an opportunity to pass on storm safety information while others incorporated it into their own advertising.

Regal Cinemas announced that at midnight on August 2, 2013, it would play the film in roughly 200 theaters nationally. Tickets sold out quickly in New York, Boston, and Seattle, where more showings were added to appease customer demand. Box office numbers were weak for the midnight showings; estimates were at under $200,000.

International broadcast

• Australia – Premiere on the The Universal Channel was scheduled for September 9, 2013, but was fast-tracked to premiere on July 26, 2013, after the film's wide international response. It rated 54,000 viewers, making it the sixth most watched program for the night (and third most watched non-sport program) on subscription television.
• United Kingdom – Premiered on Syfy on August 7, 2013.
• New Zealand – Premiered on free-to-air television channel Prime on September 17, 2013.
• Germany – Premiered on free-to-air Tele 5 television channel on January 10, 2014 as part of their "Worst films of all times" series.

Merchandising

Syfy and The Asylum announced in August 2013 that Sharknado merchandise would be made available, including T-shirts and potentially other products. Funko acquired the licensing agreement to manufacture the POP Vinyl version of Sharknado

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 82% based on 17 reviews; the average rating is 6.1/10. The site's consensus states: "Proudly, shamelessly, and gloriously brainless, Sharknado redefines 'so bad it's good' for a new generation."

Reviewer Mary McNamara, writing for the Los Angeles Times, mentioned that the plot holes are "the whole point of movies like this: fabulous in-home commentary. Often accompanied by the consumption of many alcoholic beverages." David Hinckley of the New York Daily News said "Sharknado is an hour and a half of your life that you'll never get back. And you won't want to."

Kim Newman of Empire called the film "cynical rubbish, with an attention-getting title and just enough footage of terrible CG sharks in a terrible CG tornado chomping on people to fill out a trailer suitable for attracting YouTube hits."

Sharknado has become a cult film. The film was used for a RiffTrax Live event in July 2014, where former Mystery Science Theater 3000 cast members mocked the film for a live audience and broadcast to other theaters through NCM Fathom; the idea for using the film for this was prompted by the Sharknado producers discussing the film with Fathom at the same time. Ferrante said after the event that "Being skewered by the MST3K guys was an honor."

Video game

Main article: Sharknado: The Video Game

Sequels

File:Sharknado2 comic-con.jpg

Promoters of Sharknado 2 at the San Diego Comic Con International in 2013

Main articles: Sharknado 2: The Second One and Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!

Syfy announced that they ordered a sequel to premiere in 2014, set in New York City, and were running a Twitter contest to allow fans to choose the title for the new film. It was announced on August 8, 2013, that the sequel would be titled Sharknado 2: The Second One. The sequel premiered on July 30, 2014, and was the highest premiering film on the Syfy channel.

In January 2014, Ian Ziering and Tara Reid were confirmed to reprise their roles for the sequel, along with the announcement of principal photography commencing on February 13, 2014 in order to make the previously announced Syfy channel premiere date in July. A third film, Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, was scheduled for a 2015 release. and eventually aired on July 22, 2015.

Although Sharknado 2: The Second One was made under union contracts, The Asylum refused to sign a union contract for the Sharknado 3 production. The crew voted to strike on March 3, 2015.

According to IATSE representative Vanessa Holtgrewe, Sharknado 2: The Second One was "the highest-rated original movie on SyFy ever. Asylum decided they weren't going to share the success this time around with the crew." Holtgrewe said the crew wants standardized working conditions, a pension and health benefits. Crew members from The Asylum’s non-union productions report that it often pays flat day rates for long hours that result in wages that are below the legal minimum wage.

Asylum representative Scott Meehan issued a satirical statement in response to the strikers concerns: "We are happy to report that we have reached an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Selachimorpha, which represents the sharks in our film. We will be increasing the amount of chum at the craft services table and will no longer require our employees to sleep without moving." In March 2015, Syfy confirmed a documentary film about the series.

Archie Comics also released a story about Archie Andrews encountering a Sharknado leading up to the third film.

Sharknado 3 was followed in three days by Lavalantula, which debuted July 25, 2015, the Saturday after Sharknado 3's Wednesday premier. Lavalantula featured Sharknado's protagonist in a cameo wearing a white t-shirt with crossed chainsaws. This indicates that it takes place in a shared universe. As he says he has "shark problems right now", this may indicate that the events of Lavalantula take place just before or concurrently with Sharknado 3.

Sharknado 4 was confirmed to follow upon Sharknado 3's premiere. The film was later announced as "Sharknado: The 4th Awakens". Confirmed for the fourth episode are Tara Reid, Ian Ziering and David Hasselhoff. The movie will be shown in July/August in cinemas and in television.

See also

• List of killer shark films

External links

• Official website
• Sharknado at IMDb
• Sharknado at Rotten Tomatoes
• Sharknado Funko POP Vinyl