''Sharknado'' is a series of six American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

comedy horror Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary genre, literary, television genre, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three ty ...

disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

films released by

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

between 2013 and 2018. 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 Ian Andrew Ziering (; born March 30, 1964) 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 M ...

Fin Shepard 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 wor ...

and

Tara Reid Tara Donna Reid (born November 8, 1975) is an American actress. She played Vicky in the films '' American Pie'' (1999), ''American Pie 2'' (2001), and ''American Reunion'' (2012), and Bunny Lebowski in ''The Big Lebowski'' (1998). In 2013, she ...

as April Wexler - a husband and wife who encounter "sharknadoes", tornadoes filled with sharks, wherever they go.

Films

''Sharknado'' (2013)

A freak cyclone hits

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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.

''Sharknado 2: The Second One'' (2014)

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.

''Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!'' (2015)

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.

''Sharknado: The 4th Awakens'' (2016)

''Sharknado 4'' was confirmed to follow upon ''Sharknado 3''s premiere. ''Sharknado 3'' concludes with a

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

regarding whether or not April is killed by falling wreckage. An ad after the film promotes a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

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.

, Ryan Newman, and

David Hasselhoff David Michael Hasselhoff (born July 17, 1952), nicknamed "The Hoff", is an American actor, singer, and television personality. He has set a Guinness World Record as the most watched man on TV. Hasselhoff first gained recognition on ''The You ...

reprise their roles from previous films. New cast members include:

Tommy Davidson Thomas Davidson (born November 10, 1963) is an American comedian and actor. He was an original cast member on the sketch comedy TV show ''In Living Color'', Mitchell on ''Between Brothers'' (1997-1999), Dexter on ''Malcolm & Eddie'' (1999-2000) ...

as Aston Reynolds, playboy tech billionaire and Astro-X president;

Cody Linley Cody Martin Linley (born November 20, 1989) is an American actor and singer. He played a recurring role as Jake Ryan in the television series ''Hannah Montana'', and was a contestant on the seventh season of '' Dancing with the Stars'', in whic ...

replacing

Chuck Hittinger Chuck Hittinger (born February 12, 1983) 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 televisio ...

as Matt Shepard;

Imani Hakim Imani Hakim (born 1993) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Tonya Rock on the UPN/ CW sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris'' as well as portraying Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas in the 2014 Lifetime original movie ''The Ga ...

as Gabrielle, a soldier and Matt's wife;

Gary Busey Gary Busey (; born 1944) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Buddy Holly in ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the National Society of Film Critics ...

as Wilford Wexler, April's rich father;

Cheryl Tiegs Cheryl Rae Tiegs (born September 25, 1947) is an American model and fashion designer. Frequently described as the first American supermodel, Tiegs is best known for her multiple appearances on the covers of the ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit I ...

as Raye Shepard, Fin's mother;

Masiela Lusha Masiela Lusha (; born October 23, 1985) is an Albanian-born American actress and author. She gained recognition for playing Carmen Lopez on the globally syndicated ABC sitcom ''George Lopez'', a role that earned her two consecutive Young Artist ...

as Gemini, Fin's cousin. The title and poster of the film is a homage to '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens''.

''Sharknado 5: Global Swarming'' (2017)

A fifth ''Sharknado'' film was confirmed in October 2016, and was released on August 6, 2017. The title was going to be ''Sharknado 5... Earth 0'', 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 slogan "

Make America Great Again "Make America Great Again" or MAGA is an American political slogan popularized by Donald Trump in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants in ...

" by President Donald Trump. Ian Ziering and Tara Reid reprised their roles as Fin Shepard and April Wexler. Cassie Scerbo also reprised for this installment. Filming occurred in more than 5 countries, including the UK, Australia and Bulgaria. 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'' (2018)

''The Last Sharknado: It's About Time'' was released on August 19, 2018. Tara Reid, Ian Ziering and Cassie Scerbo returned. A write-up in

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...

in February 2018 said: "In his quest, Fin fights Nazis, dinosaurs, knights, and even takes a ride on Noah's Ark." On March 28, 2018, Syfy confirmed the film would be the final installment of the series. On May 25, the film's title was revealed by a released teaser trailer.

Vivica A. Fox Vivica Anjanetta Fox (born July 30, 1964) is an American actress, producer, and television host. Fox began her career on ''Soul Train'' (19821983). She eventually continued her career with roles on the daytime television soap operas ''Days of O ...

, who had starred in ''Sharknado 2'', reprises her role for the final installment. 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.

Spin-off films

''Lavalantula'' (2015)

''Lavalantula'' is a spin-off of ''Sharknado'', about fire spitting tarantulas causing havoc over Los Angeles, starring some of the cast from ''

Police Academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or othe ...

''. It features an appearance by Ian Ziering as Fin Shepard - tying the film into the ''Sharknado'' universe.

''2 Lava 2 Lantula'' (2016)

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.

Cast and crew

Cast

* 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 indicates an appearance through archival footage or audio

Crew

Reception

Box office performance

Critical and public response

Other media

Video game

''Sharknado: The Video Game''

''Sharknado: The Video Game'' is a 2014

endless running Endless runner or infinite runner is a subgenre of platform game in which the player character runs for an infinite amount of time while avoiding obstacles. The player's objective is to reach a high score by surviving for as long as possible. The ...

video game developed by Other Ocean Interactive and published by

Majesco Entertainment Majesco Entertainment Company (formerly Majesco Sales Inc.) is an American video game publisher and distributor based in Hazlet, New Jersey. The company was founded as Majesco Sales in Edison, New Jersey in 1986, and was a privately held company ...

. It was based on ''Sharknado 2: The Second One'' and was released for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

on July 25, 2014. It was deleted from the App Store in 2017.

Book

''How to Survive a Sharknado''

''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''.

Comic books

''Archie vs. Sharknado''

''Archie vs. Sharknado'' is a

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

simultaneously published by

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Riverdale being hit by a storm of sharknadoes and

Archie Archie is a masculine given name, a diminutive of Archibald. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Archie Alexander (1888–1958), African-American mathematician, engineer and governor of the US Virgin Islands * Archie Blake (mathematici ...

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 Dan Parent is an American comic book artist and writer best known for his work for Archie Comics. He has illustrated Love Showdown, Felix the Cat, Barbie, Disney Adventures, and with Fernando Ruiz, created the comic series '' Die Kitty Die''. Bi ...

. The comic book received an average score of 7.2/10 based on 15 critical reviews according to

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Comic Book Roundup.

Documentaries

''Sharknado: Feeding Frenzy'' (2015)

''Sharknado: Feeding Frenzy'' is a documentary about the making of the film series.

''Sharknado: Heart of Sharkness'' (2015)

The

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

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 Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

''The Real Sharknado'' (2021)

During the 2021

Shark Week Shark Week is an annual, week long TV programming block at the Discovery Channel, which features shark-based programming. Shark Week originally premiered on July 17, 1988. Featured annually, in July or early August, it was originally devoted to c ...

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharknado American film series Comedy film series Film series introduced in 2013 Horror film series