Sharknado | |
---|---|
Created by | Anthony C. Ferrante |
Owners | Syfy NBCUniversal Television Group The Asylum |
Years | 2013–2020 |
Films and television | |
Film(s) |
|
Games | |
Video game(s) | Sharknado: The Video Game (2014) |
Sharknado is an American six-film made-for-television science fiction action comedy horror disaster film series released by Syfy between 2013 and 2020. It has since been expanded into video games and comics, including a spin-off film, Sharknado: Heart of Sharkness, that was released in 2015. The first two films received mixed to positive reviews from critics, while the others received negative reviews.
The series stars Ian Ziering as Fin Shepard and Tara Reid as April Wexler—a husband and wife who encounter "sharknadoes", tornadoes filled with sharks, wherever they go.
A freak hurricane 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 (Ian Ziering) sets out with his friends to rescue his estranged wife, April (Tara Reid), and their teenage daughter, Claudia, before the "sharknado" reaches them. [1]
While Fin and April are in New York City to promote April's book, How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters, about the Los Angeles sharknado, the city is hit by a severe storm causing new "sharknadoes" to emerge.
Following the events of the previous film, Fin and April have remarried and are expecting another child. For his heroics in the "sharknado" battles in Los Angeles and New York, Fin is in Washington, D.C., to receive an award from the president. However, when he is there he encounters a new "sharknado" which begins to make its way down the "Feast Coast" to Florida. [2]
Sharknado 4 was confirmed to follow upon Sharknado 3's premiere. [3] Sharknado 3 concludes with a cliffhanger regarding whether or not April is killed by falling wreckage. An ad after the film promotes a Twitter campaign offering fans the chance to decide her fate with the hashtags "#AprilLives" or "#AprilDies", with the results revealed at the start of Sharknado 4, which first aired on Syfy on July 31, 2016. [4] Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Ryan Newman, and David Hasselhoff reprise their roles from previous films. New cast members include: Tommy Davidson as Aston Reynolds, playboy tech billionaire and Astro-X president; Cody Linley replacing Chuck Hittinger as Matt Shepard; Imani Hakim as Gabrielle, a soldier and Matt's wife; Gary Busey as Wilford Wexler, April's rich father; Cheryl Tiegs as Raye Shepard, Fin's mother; Masiela Lusha as Gemini, Fin's cousin. [5]
The title and poster of the film is a homage to Star Wars: The Force Awakens . [6]
A fifth Sharknado film was confirmed in October 2016, and was released on August 6, 2017. [7] The title was going to be Sharknado 5... Earth 0, [8] but on June 1, 2017, the title was unveiled to be Sharknado 5: Global Swarming with the tagline "Make America Bait Again", a reference to the political slogan "Make America Great Again" popularized by then-President Donald Trump. [9] Ian Ziering and Tara Reid reprised their roles as Fin Shepard and April Wexler. [10] Cassie Scerbo also reprised for this installment. [11] Filming occurred in more than 5 countries, including the UK, Australia and Bulgaria. [12] This storyline depicts Fin and his allies accidentally unleashing a new wave of sharknados when they deactivate an ancient device that was actually keeping the Sharknados in check, the subsequent storms escalating to the point that they devastate the planet, leaving only Fin alive, until he is met by a time-displaced version of his son Gil.
The Last Sharknado: It's About Time was released on August 19, 2018. [13] Tara Reid, Ian Ziering and Cassie Scerbo returned. A write-up in Bloody Disgusting in February 2018 said: "In his quest, Fin fights Nazis, dinosaurs, knights, and even takes a ride on Noah's Ark." [14] On March 28, 2018, Syfy confirmed the film would be the final installment of the series. [15] On May 25, the film's title was revealed by a released teaser trailer. [16] Vivica A. Fox, who had starred in Sharknado 2, reprises her role for the final installment. [17] With Fin the last survivor, he finds himself travelling through time to meet supposedly-deceased allies (pulled out of time by Gil at the moment before their deaths) seeking to identify and prevent the first of the modern-day Sharknados. After subduing potential Sharknados in Camelot, the War of Independence, and the Wild West, Fin is able to destroy the original Sharknado before it could escalate into the global catastrophes he has witnessed, creating a new timeline where Fin is still just the bar owner he was in the original film, surrounded by his extended family.
Lavalantula is a spin-off of Sharknado, about fire spitting tarantulas causing havoc over Los Angeles, starring some of the cast from Police Academy . It features an appearance by Ian Ziering as Fin Shepard - tying the film into the Sharknado universe. [18]
A sequel to Lavalantula called 2 Lava 2 Lantula premiered on Syfy on August 6, 2016. Some of the cast from the original film returned, including Steve Guttenberg, Marion Ramsey and Michael Winslow. [19]
2025 Armageddon is a crossover film released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Asylum, and features an alien race using Sharknado alongside other films from The Asylum as the basis for monsters sent to attack Earth. The film was released on digital storefronts on December 23, 2022. [20]
List indicator(s)
- This table only includes characters which have appeared in more than one film in the series.
- A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.
- A A indicates an appearance through archival footage or audio
Characters | Sharknado | Sharknado 2: The Second One | Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! | Sharknado: The 4th Awakens | Sharknado 5: Global Swarming | The Last Sharknado: It's About Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
Fin Shepard | Ian Ziering | |||||
April Wexler | Tara Reid | |||||
Claudia Shepard | Aubrey Peeples | Ryan Newman | Ryan Newman | |||
Nova Clarke | Cassie Scerbo | Cassie Scerbo | Cassie Scerbo | |||
Matt Shepard | Chuck Hittinger | Cody Linley | Chuck Hittinger | |||
George | John Heard | John Heard A | ||||
Martin Brody | Mark McGrath | Mark McGrath | ||||
Skye | Vivica A. Fox | Vivica A. Fox | ||||
Mick and Cameron | Jedward (John and Edward) Grimes | |||||
Gil Shepard | David Hasselhoff | |||||
Gemini | Masiela Lusha | |||||
Gil Shepard Jr. | Christopher Shone and Nicholas Shone | Billy Barratt Dolph Lundgren (as Mature Gil) | Brendan Petrizzo (as Hologram Gil) M. Steven Felty (as Voice of Hologram Gil) Matie Moncea (as Gil on Dinosaur) Tiberiu Hansen (as Medieval Gil) Chris Owen (as 30 year old Gil) Bob Ellis (as Surfer Gil) | |||
Occupation | Sharknado | Sharknado 2: The Second One | Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! | Sharknado: The 4th Awakens | Sharknado 5: Global Swarming | The Last Sharknado: It's About Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
Director | Anthony C. Ferrante | |||||
Producer | David Michael Latt | |||||
Writer | Thunder Levin | Scotty Mullen | ||||
Editor | William Boodell | Ana Florit Vashi Nedomansky | Christopher Roth | Ana Florit | Ana Florit Ryan Mitchelle | Ryan Mitchelle |
Cinematography | Ben Demaree | Ben Demaree Laura Beth Love Scott Wheeler | Laura Beth Love | Ryan Broomberg | Pătru Păunescu | |
Composer | Ramin Kousha | Christopher Cano Chris Ridenhour | ||||
Production Company | Syfy Films The Asylum | |||||
Distributor | Syfy |
Film | Release date | U.S. viewers (millions) | 18–49 rating | Budget | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sharknado | July 11, 2013 | 1.37 | — | $2 million | [21] |
Sharknado 2: The Second One | July 30, 2014 | 3.87 | 1.6 | $1.5–2 million | [22] [23] |
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! | July 22, 2015 | 2.81 | 0.9 | $2.4 million | [24] |
Sharknado: The 4th Awakens | July 31, 2016 | 2.77 | 0.8 | $3 million | [25] |
Sharknado 5: Global Swarming | August 6, 2017 | 1.89 | 0.6 | $5 million | [26] [27] |
The Last Sharknado: It's About Time | August 19, 2018 | 1.42 | 0.3 | $3 million | [28] |
Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
---|---|---|
Sharknado | 75% (20 reviews) [29] | — (3 reviews) [30] |
Sharknado 2: The Second One | 61% (31 reviews) [31] | 50 (17 reviews) [32] |
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! | 36% (33 reviews) [33] | 53 (19 reviews) [34] |
Sharknado: The 4th Awakens | 14% (14 reviews) [35] | 35 (7 reviews) [36] |
Sharknado 5: Global Swarming | 30% (10 reviews) [37] | — |
The Last Sharknado: It's About Time | 27% (11 reviews) [38] | 22 (5 reviews) [39] |
Sharknado: The Video Game is a 2014 endless running video game developed by Other Ocean Interactive and published by Majesco Entertainment. It was based on Sharknado 2: The Second One and was released for iOS on July 25, 2014. [40] It was delisted from the App Store in 2017.[ citation needed ]
How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters: Fight Back When Monsters and Mother Nature Attack is a book by Andrew Shaffer, a real-life version of the book-within-the-movie Sharknado 2: The Second One.[ citation needed ]
Archie vs. Sharknado is a one-shot comic book simultaneously published by Archie Comics on July 22, 2015, as a tie-in to Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!. It deals with Riverdale being hit by a storm of sharknadoes and Archie and the gang having to deal with them as they make their way down the "Feast Coast". The one-shot was written by series director Anthony C. Ferrante, with art by longtime Archie artist Dan Parent. [41] The comic book received an average score of 7.2/10 based on 15 critical reviews according to review aggregator Comic Book Roundup. [42]
Sharknado: Feeding Frenzy is a documentary about the making of the first two Sharknado movies as well as a teaser for Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, which aired the next day. [43] [44]
The mockumentary tells the story of David Moore, the filmmaker who first dreamed of "sharks in a tornado" and brought on disaster by using real sharks. It was written and directed by Jeremy Wagener, and released on October 6, 2015, on video on demand. [45]
During the 2021 Shark Week, Discovery Channel aired a special starring Ian Ziering and Tara Reid as themselves debunking many of the shark myths from the film series. It originally aired on July 14, 2021. [46]
Ian Andrew Ziering is an American actor best known for his role as Steve Sanders on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210, which he played from 1990 to 2000. He is also the voice of Vinnie on Biker Mice from Mars. From 2013 to 2018, he starred as Fin Shepard in the Sharknado film series. In 2019, he played the DC Comics character Blue Devil on the series Swamp Thing.
Tara Donna Reid is an American actress and model. Her film roles established her status as a sex symbol from the late 1990s through the early 2000s, early 2010s, and beyond.
Ryan Whitney is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Ginger Falcone in Disney XD's Zeke and Luther, Allison in The Thundermans, Cindy Collins in Zoom and Emily Hobbs in See Dad Run.
Cassandra Lynn Scerbo is an American actress, singer and dancer. She was one of the members of the all-girl pop band Slumber Party Girls in the CBS children's music variety series Dance Revolution. In acting, she starred as Brooke in the film Bring It On: In It to Win It (2007), as Lauren Tanner in the ABC Family comedy-drama series Make It or Break It (2009–2012), and as Nova Clarke in the Sharknado film series alongside Ian Ziering and Tara Reid (2013–2018).
Chuck Hittinger is an American actor. He is known for playing Sean Ackard in Pretty Little Liars (2010–11), as Van Dyke Tosh in Jonas, and as Matt, the son of Ian Ziering's character, in the 2013 Syfy television movie Sharknado.
Jack Davis Griffo is an American actor. He starred as Max Thunderman on the Nickelodeon series The Thundermans (2013–2018). Griffo also had starring roles in the network's original movies The Thundermans Return, Jinxed, and Splitting Adam, and the Netflix original series Alexa & Katie.
Sharknado is a 2013 American made-for-television science fiction comedy disaster film directed by Anthony C. Ferrante. It tells 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. The movie 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 Fathom Events, where it earned $200,000 from 200 screenings. The over-the-top premise and theatrics of the film quickly earned it a cult following.
Sharknado 2: The Second One is a 2014 American made-for-television film and a sequel to the 2013 television film Sharknado and the second installment in the Sharknado film series. It was directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, with Ian Ziering and Tara Reid reprising their roles from the first film. The film premiered on July 30, 2014, and was the highest-premiering film on the Syfy Channel.
Anthony C. Ferrante is an American film director, producer, and writer, known for directing the Sharknado series, the 2017 thriller Forgotten Evil and the 2005 ghost story Boo, which was his feature film writing and directing debut.
Sharknado: The Video Game is a 2014 endless running video game developed by Other Ocean Interactive and published by Majesco Entertainment. The game is based on the 2014 film Sharknado 2: The Second One.
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! is a 2015 American made-for-television science fiction action comedy disaster film and the third installment in the Sharknado film series, following Sharknado and Sharknado 2: The Second One. The film was directed by Anthony C. Ferrante with Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Cassie Scerbo, and Mark McGrath reprising their roles from the previous installments. Also joining the cast are David Hasselhoff, Bo Derek, Ryan Newman, and Jack Griffo.
Sharknado: The 4th Awakens is a 2016 American made-for-television science fiction action comedy disaster film and the fourth installment in the Sharknado film series, following Sharknado, Sharknado 2: The Second One, and Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!. The film was directed by Anthony C. Ferrante with Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, David Hasselhoff and Ryan Newman reprising their roles from the previous installments. New people joining the cast in the film include Tommy Davidson, Masiela Lusha, Imani Hakim, Cheryl Tiegs and Gary Busey. In the film, Fin Shepard and his allies, five years after the last sharknado, contend with a group of sharknado variants, such as a "cownado" and a "lightningnado".
Channel Zero is an American horror anthology television series created by Nick Antosca, who serves as writer, showrunner, and executive producer. The series was greenlit for two 6-episode, self-contained seasons, which aired in late 2016 and late 2017 on Syfy. The storylines for the series are based on popular creepypastas. On February 9, 2017, Syfy renewed the series for a third and fourth season.
Lavalantula is an American 2015 science fiction comedy horror thriller television film that takes place after a series of volcanic eruptions in Los Angeles unleashes a swarm of gigantic, lava-breathing tarantulas from which the film draws its title. It was directed by Mike Mendez and stars Steve Guttenberg, Nia Peeples and Patrick Renna. Ian Ziering appears as Fin Shepard, tying the film into the Sharknado universe. It premiered on Syfy on July 25, 2015.
Sharknado 5: Global Swarming is a 2017 American made-for-television science fiction comedy disaster film and the fifth installment in the Sharknado film series, following Sharknado, Sharknado 2: The Second One, Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, and Sharknado: The 4th Awakens.
The Last Sharknado: It's About Time is a 2018 American made-for-television science fiction comedy disaster film and the sixth and final installment in the Sharknado film series. The film was directed by Anthony C. Ferrante with Ian Ziering, Tara Reid and Cassie Scerbo reprising their roles from the previous installments. In the film, Fin and his gang use time travel in order to prevent sharknadoes from ever happening.
Fin Shepard is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Sharknado film series. He is a former surfer and shark hunter, who is played by Ian Ziering in all the films. He is a positive hero, protecting his family and the rest of the world from the evil sharks and hurricanes that bring sharks from the sea to land.
Roboshark is a 2015 Bulgarian-Canadian television film directed and co-written by Jeffery Scott Lando. Co-written and co-produced by Phillip Roth, Roboshark is a "gonzo shark film", a "tongue-in-cheek creature feature" which satirically blends action, comedy, and science fiction and which premiered at the start of SyFy Channel's second annual Sharknado week on 18 July 2015.
5-Headed Shark Attack is a 2017 American made-for-television action horror film produced by The Asylum in association with Syfy. The film is the third installment in the Multi-Headed Shark Attack film series, following 2-Headed Shark Attack and 3-Headed Shark Attack and preceding 6-Headed Shark Attack, with this film featuring both a four-headed and five-headed shark.
Santa Jaws is a 2018 American Christmas horror comedy film written by Jake Kiernan, directed by Misty Talley and starring Reid Miller and Miles Doleac.