Considering that all art is subjective, I do not necessarily believe there are “bad” movies, but I do recognize that some do boast a higher quality in production value, acting, logic, and overall authority of their material. The rest are, typically, panned or widely forgotten, while a rare few have managed to stand the test of time for being so uproariously ridiculous (usually by unintentional means) that you cannot help but love them. The following are some essential examples of the most laughably over-the-top and awesomely cheesy movies in cinematic history.

The Toxic Avenger (1984)

The flagship title of Troma — a production company that specializes in the cheesiest and sleaziest cult classics you may or may not have ever heard of — is The Toxic Avenger. The story of a gawky custodian (Mark Torgl) turned into a grotesque, but friendly, creature of superhuman size and strength (Mitch Cohen) is, oddly, charming and has enough impressive practical effects to forgive its many shortcomings in terms of logic and class.

Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988)

A creepy clown movie that beautifully encapsulates what makes harlequins both something to scream or laugh at is Killer Klowns from Outer Space. It is also one of the most unique alien invasion movies in the way its central, extraterrestrial antagonists needlessly incorporate a circus-inspired aesthetic into their plan for world domination.

Con Air (1997)

For its explosive sequences, Con Air earns itself a spot among some of Nicolas Cage's best action movies. That being said, the thriller about a prison transfer plane hijacked by its own convict passengers — played by the likes of John Malkovich, Danny Trejo, Steve Buscemi, and even Dave Chappelle — is still an utterly ridiculous romp from beginning to end..

The Running Man (1987)

Before The Hunger Games, there was this adaptation of a novel by Stephen King (under the pen name "Richard Bachman") set in a dystopian future in which the most popular reality show on television sees contestants literally fighting to the death. Fans of Arnold Schwarzenegger's propensity for using puns will have a ball with The Running Man, in which the actor has a ridiculous quip for each of his increasingly cartoonish kills.

Road House (1989)

Patrick Swayze leads director Rowdy Herrington’s Road House as a black-belt martial artist hired as a bouncer in a rundown bar in Missouri. The plot is totally all over the place and the fight sequences are extremely over-the-top, which fans see as perfectly valid reasons to love it.

Troll 2 (1990)

The plot of Troll 2 alone — which sees goblins disguised as humans plotting to feast on a vacationing family by turning them into plants — is enough evidence of its ridiculousness. Add nonsensical dialogue, robotic acting, and the mere fact that there is not a single "troll" in the movie, and you have one of cinema's most hilarious disasters.

The Happening (2008)

When viewed as an attempt at an earnest horror movie, The Happening — starring Mark Wahlberg as a teacher struggling to survive an event causing people to spontaneously take their own lives — is perceived by most as a failure. However, when viewed as a twisted dark comedy, it is one of writer and director M. Night Shyamalan's most entertaining achievements.

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

First Blood was a powerful, intimate, character-driven drama about a lonely veteran (played by Sylvester Stallone) at war with, not only the authorities of a small town but also his own past trauma. Rambo: First Blood Part II — the first follow-up to the 1981 adaptation of David Morell’s novel — throws all that to the wind and resorts to mindless violence. However, boy does it deliver the action well.

The Room (2003)

Hailed as the definitive example of "so bad, it's good” cinema is writer, producer, director, and star Tommy Wiseau's The Room. This "drama" about a man (Wiseau) unwittingly caught in a love triangle with his "future wife" (Juliette Danielle) and best friend (Greg Sestero) is so laughably bizarre and infectiously quotable, that it has since become a midnight movie classic worthy of repeat viewings.

The Fast And Furious Movies (2001-Present)

While high-octane car chases and mind-blowing stunts were always key to its success, the first installment of the Fast and Furious movies is still a relatively grounded and mature crime thriller. However, by the fourth installment, the franchise threw all logic out the window in favor of one-upping itself with the biggest and most improbable stunts imaginable, including literally going to space at one point.

Starship Troopers (1997)

There is no doubt that Starship Troopers is an essential example of a cartoonish sci-fi action flick that just about borders on being war propaganda. However, as most critics did not seem to realize at the time, that was actually the point of director Paul Verhoeven's satirical, cult favorite adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s novel that pits humanity against giant alien bugs.

300 (2007)

Where do we start with 300? Zack Snyder's otherwise visually inventive adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel is an overly self-serious and thoroughly inaccurate depiction of the Battle of Thermopylae, but the result is still an undeniably mesmerizing and even, at times, inspiring epic.

Face/Off (1997)

The idea of an FBI agent (played by John Travolta) literally switching faces with a notorious terrorist (played by Nicolas Cage) as part of a top-secret mission sounds like the setup of a joke. But only a director as ambitious and style-oriented as John Woo could make Face/Off even more wonderfully absurd and insane in its execution.

Commando (1985)

Out of all the best Arnold Schwarzenegger movies from the 1980s, Commando is easily one of the silliest. Yet, out of its comical elements — including the main hero’s name being “John Matrix,” for one — comes a rewardingly entertaining revenge tale.

Evil Dead II (1987)

Sam Raimi redefined what horror was capable of by making the sequel to his low-budget breakout classic a cartoonish supernatural thriller that was actually in on the joke. As a result, Evil Dead II is considered by many to be the definitive installment of the beloved possession film franchise and one of the best horror-comedy movies of all time.

Samurai Cop (1991) 

If the title Samurai Cop is not enough to get a chuckle out of you, watching writer and director Amir Shervan’s police B-movie staring Matt Hannon and Mark Frazer will have you howling. Every single aspect of filmmaking in this cult favorite — from the wooden acting to the stunted action choreography — is handled so amateurishly, that it is truly a wonder to behold.

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

The only thing scarier than a shark is a horde of sharks imbued with above-average intelligence after being used as guinea pigs in an experiment to cure Alzheimer's. The otherwise intriguing concept of director Renny Harlin's Deep Blue Sea does lead to some "unintelligent" moments, but Samuel L. Jackson's performance makes it all worth it. 

Demolition Man (1993)

Demolition Man — which pits Sylvester Stallone as a hardened lawman against Wesley Snipes as an eccentric terrorist — is one of the few Stallone movies that actually has some real authority over its cheesiness. Set in a future in which Taco Bell is the only restaurant that exists and toilet paper has been replaced with three metal seashells, there is some intriguing satire amid its over-the-top action.

The Final Destination Movies (2000-Present)

The original, first chapter of the Final Destination movies boasts one of the most unique concepts for a horror flick of its time — following a group of teens stalked by death itself. All of the sequels merely recycle the plot, but avoid feeling repetitive by inventing increasingly elaborate and absurd ways to add to the body count.

Flash Gordon (1980)

A good way to describe Flash Gordon — starring Sam Jones as the titular teen football player, who becomes an intergalactic hero — might be "Star Wars lite." However, do not let that discourage you from experiencing its gloriously surreal and endearingly cartoonish sci-fi/fantasy adventure elements that made fans out of Seth MacFarlane and Mark Wahlberg’s characters from Ted.

Piranha (1978)

Piranha is considered to be one of the best Jaws rip-offs of its time, but not because it is as scary and sophisticated as Steven Spielberg's blockbuster. Director Joe Dante and executive producer Roger Corman's creature feature is a classic because of how hilariously hokey it is.

Tango & Cash (1990)

Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell make a great pair as the title heroes of Tango & Cash. In fact, their chemistry as two wildly different cops forced to work together to find and defeat the crime lord who framed them is, just about, the sole saving grace of the astonishingly ludicrous story.

Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

In his review of Kung Fu Hustle — in which secret warriors defend their housing complex from a ruthless gang in 1940s Shanghai — Roger Ebert described the film as “like Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton meet Quentin Tarantino and Bugs Bunny.” That is, indeed, a perfect way to describe writer, director, and star Stephen Chow’s action-comedy that masterfully blends stylish, near-balletic martial artistry with cartoonish absurdity.

The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension (1984)

Before multiverse movies became a prevalent Hollywood trend, the ultimate cross-dimensional action flick was The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. Starring Peter Weller as the title hero — a rock star racing to save a parallel Earth from an alien invasion — the '80s favorite is a wonderfully uproarious thrill from beginning to end.

Army Of Darkness (1992)

While Evil Dead II was a balanced blend of horror and comedy, the third installment of Sam Raimi's iconic Evil Dead movies, Army of Darkness, is a full-on slapstick farce that happens to take place in a medieval era tormented by otherworldly forces. Holding it all together is Bruce Campbell, portraying the heroic Ash Williams at the peak of his moronic and bumbling nature.

Cobra (1986)

Few films better represent Sylvester Stallone’s ‘80s action hero era quite as definitively as Cobra. The title character — whose real name is Lt. Marion Cobretti — is an ultra-cool, loose-canon cop who spews bone-dry one-liners and doesn’t bother removing his dark aviator sunglasses before engaging in a shootout.

Big Trouble In Little China (1986)

Quite possibly John Carpenter's funniest movie is Big Trouble in Little China, which brings ancient fantasy lore to a modernized urban setting. Much of the comedy comes from Kurt Russell's performance as the charming, yet imbecilic, Jack Burton, whose only real motivation to take on the mystical Lo Pan (James Hong) and his enchanted goons is to retrieve his semi-truck.

Lake Placid (1999)

Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, and Oliver Platt take on a prehistorically large crocodile in Lake Placid, which is one of the funniest creature features of its time, if not all time, and it is not out of failure to take its story seriously. Much of the dialogue is the typical witty banter you hear in similar thrillers and the gore is gloriously absurd, but the cherry on top is the twist that Betty White’s character, Mrs. Delores Bickerman, has been feeding the croc and its children the whole time.

Crank (2006)

Writing and directing duo Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor's maximalist approach to storytelling is at its most excessive and unhinged in Crank. The thriller stars Jason Statham as a hitman who endures a series of increasingly dangerous tricks to keep his heart rate above a certain level and keep himself alive.

Miami Connection (1987)

Producer and co-director Y.K. Kim stars in Miami Connection as the guitarist in a “rock and roll martial arts band” that gets caught up in a vicious gang war in Florida. After being released for home viewing more than two decades after its poor theatrical run, the action flick’s upbeat tunes, hilarious dialogue, and even funnier action sequences have deservedly earned it a cult following.

Sharknado (2013)

There are certainly better shark movies than Sharknado, such as Jaws or Open Water. However, do those involve a chainsaw-wielding protagonist taking on cyclones infested with aquatic apex predators? Nope.

Chopping Mall (1986)

Produced by B-movie legend Roger Corman, Chopping Mall follows a group of young shopping center employees who become locked inside after hours with robots designed to protect them. Unfortunately, the machines suddenly become reprogrammed to kill after the main security system server gets struck by lightning, which is only the first improbable thing that happens in this trashtastic sci-fi horror favorite.

By finding the humor in a film’s “flaws” — or appreciating humor in general — audiences have helped these films achieve the iconic status their creators craved.

I have to hand it to Warner Bros. for their genius idea to open Meg 2: The Trench — director Ben Wheatley’s follow-up to the 2018 creature feature, The Meg — on the 2023 movie release schedule so soon after Shark Week. It surely got audiences pumped to see Jason Statham take on more prehistorically large, sharp-toothed sea-dwellers, even though they probably did not need any further incentive.

Considering how common galeophobia (fear of sharks) is, it is no question why shark movies already make up a pretty good chunk of the best horror movies of all time — with some being favored as earnest and truly frightening thrillers, while others are beloved for being entertainingly cheesy. We cover everything under the sun (or under the water, we should say) in our following showcase of picks for the best shark movies streaming online right now — starting with the predecessor to the genre’s latest outing.

The Meg (2018)

A disgraced U.S. Marine (Jason Statham) and others try to hunt down and kill a Megalodon — a 75-foot, aquatic predator assumed to be extinct, that was released from a deeper section of the Mariana Trench.

Why it is one of the best shark movies: It may not be the best shark movie of its (or any) time, but the titular monster from The Meg — director Jon Turtletaub’s entertaining adaptation of Steve Alten’s novel — is bigger than any of the sharks from the movies on this list and that alone makes it worth watching, even if we never get to see the R-rated cut it deserved.

Stream The Meg on Max.
Rent or buy The Meg on Amazon.

Jaws (1975)

A police chief (Roy Scheider) teams up with a marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and a grizzled, veteran sailor (Robert Shaw) in the hope of putting a stop to the 25-foot Great White terrorizing his quaint beach community.

Why it is one of the best shark movies: Not only was the terrifying summer horror movie classic, Jaws — one of the best movies of the 1970s — the first thriller to make audiences fear sharks, but it was also the first movie by Steven Spielberg to become a hit and gave birth to the modern blockbuster as we know it.

Rent or buy Jaws on Amazon.

Open Water (2003)

After their scuba diving tour boat accidentally leaves without them, a couple vacationing in the Caribbean (Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis) find themselves stranded in the middle of the ocean, helpless against the hungry threats that surround them.

Why it is one of the best shark movies: Out of the many shark movies released in the years since Jaws, perhaps the scariest would have to be writer and director Chris Kentis’ intense, intimate, and uniquely shot drama, Open Water, especially because it is inspired by a shocking true story.

Stream Open Water on Freevee through Amazon.

The Reef (2010)

After an accident causes a sailboat holding five people to capsize over the Great Barrier Reef, four of them swim out into the ocean looking for safety, only to come face-to-face with a Great White.

Why it is one of the best shark movies: One could refer to The Reef as the “Australian Open Water,” since it is also inspired by a true story of people stranded in shark-infested waters, but that does not make the sophomore effort of writer and director Andrew Traucki — whose career is full of fact-based creature features — any less of an effectively horrifying drama.

Stream The Reef on Amazon Prime.
Stream The Reef on Tubi.

The Shallows (2016)

After she is attacked by a Great White Shark, a lone surfer (Blake Lively) struggles to make it back to shore as her attacker circles the shallow area she has taken refuge in.

Why it is one of the best shark movies: While not based on a true story, director Jaume Collet-Serra’s The Shallows is similar to Open Water and The Reef in how it succeeds as an intimate and absorbing story of survival against the ocean’s greatest predator from a singular perspective.

Stream The Shallows on Tubi.
Rent or buy The Shallows on Amazon.

47 Meters Down (2017)

After a malfunction during a cage diving trip in Mexico, a woman (Claire Holt) and her sister (This Is Us cast member Mandy Moore) find themselves stuck at the bottom of the ocean with their air supply running low and sharks surrounding the one thing keeping them both safe and confined — their cage.

Why it is one of the best shark movies: While not based on any specific real-life incidents, the plausibility of co-writer and director Jonhannes Roberts’ 47 Meters Down is what makes it such a terrifying monster movie that would quickly spawn a sequel. 

Stream 47 Meters Down on Starz.
Rent or buy 47 Meters Down on Amazon.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)

While exploring an underwater city, four teenage scuba divers discover that the submerged village is not completely empty and struggle to find a way to the surface without becoming their stalkers’ next meal.

Why it is one of the best shark movies: As the title of the follow-up to his shark movie hit suggests, returning co-writer and director Roberts’s 47 Meters Down: Uncaged does away with the cage and brings in a new, younger cast, but still keeps things claustrophobic in a unique way — amounting to another fun, visually pleasing, and spine-chilling chapter of the franchise.

Stream 47 Meters Down: Uncaged on Netflix.
Rent or buy 47 Meters Down: Uncaged on Amazon.

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

After testing a potential cure for Alzheimer’s Disease on sharks, a team of researchers and others in a remote, underwater research facility begin to fall prey to the trio of predators with enhanced intelligence.

Why it is one of the best shark movies: While easily one of the more ridiculous entries into the shark movie genre — which some believe has not aged well since the ‘90s — director Renny Harlin’s Deep Blue Sea is still considered by enough people to be a nice slice of cheesy creature feature fun, especially for its classic jump scare moment involving star Samuel L. Jackson.

Stream Deep Blue Sea on Max.
Rent or buy Deep Blue Sea on Amazon.

Shark Night (2011)

A group of college students (including Sara Paxton, Avatar’s Joel David Moore, and Schitt’s Creek cast member, Dustin Milligan) are shocked to discover that the lake where they have chosen to vacation together is inhabited by several hungry sharks.

Why it is one of the best shark movies: The concept of a common lake infested by wild, man-eating marine life is also pretty ridiculous, but director David R. Ellis’ Shark Night — originally released in 3D — is not without its thrilling moments that make it a good time for shark movie fans.

Stream Shark Night on Tubi.
Rent or buy Shark Night on Amazon.

The Sharknado Movies (2013-2018)

A Santa Monica Pier bar owner (Ian Ziering), his estranged wife (Tara Reid), and others must fend for themselves when a hurricane sends a group of sharks spiraling through the air and eating everything in their path… six times.

Why it is one of the best shark movies: I do not think there is a more notoriously ridiculous collection of shark movies than the surprisingly popular SyFy original movie, Sharknado, and its five increasingly absurd sequels, which I honestly would say I admire for figuring out a way to incorporate the animal into an urban disaster movie plot.

Rent or buy Sharknado on Amazon.
Stream Sharknado 2: The Second One on Amazon Prime.

Stream Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! on Amazon Prime.
Stream Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens on Amazon Prime.

Stream Sharknado 5: Global Swarming on Amazon Prime.
Stream The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time on Amazon Prime. 

Shark Tale (2004)

A lowly blue-streaked cleaner wrasse with big dreams (Will Smith) and a vegetarian shark (Jack Black) whose gangster father (Robert De Niro) is disappointed in him form an alliance to help each other.

Why it is one of the best shark movies: If watching people fall prey to sharks over and over becomes monotonous for you, a fun way to break the pattern is putting on one of the best Jack Black movies, Shark Tale, because this animated, Oscar-nominated family film puts the spotlight on a nice shark for once.

Stream Shark Tale on Hulu.
Stream Shark Tale on Peacock Premium.
Rent or buy Shark Tale on Amazon.

Looks like not all shark movies are the same, but all can be a great time for thrill-seeking, marine-life-fearing audiences. See how Meg 2: The Trench measures up to these favorites by checking it out on the big screen.

Shark Week 2021 is upon us, and the shark-filled week of Discovery content is as full of fun mixed with facts as ever. As per usual, Shark Week this year has brought in some celebrities to participate in some of the specials to go with the more informative installments, and one of the most memorable so far was The Real Sharknado, featuring Ian Ziering and Tara Reid of Syfy's Sharknado franchise. It was a fun hour of television that nevertheless leaves me wondering: did it send the right or wrong message about sharks?

On the one hand, an hour of Shark Week devoted to debunking a lot – if not most – of the Sharknado franchise has value for any viewers who took the shark "facts" presented by those movies more seriously than they should have. I think it's safe to say that the vast majority of Sharknado fans knew to take the shark "information" from the franchise with a few boulders of salt, but there's still value in seeing the stars specifically show how very wrong (albeit entertaining) the scenarios were.

Plus, Dr. Tristan Guttridge gamely went along for the bonkers ride, although I did feel bad for him a couple of times. He surely didn't exactly go to all his years of school to try and feed produce to sharks with a pair of Syfy movie stars! But it was all in good fun, and in pursuit of the good cause of spreading awareness about sharks.

At the same time, there were kind of a lot of jokes about all the shark-killing that Ian Ziering's Sharknado character did, and the chainsaw that is his signature weapon even made an appearance. The Real Sharknado may have taken a misstep in also reminding viewers about his epic shark kills, when a large part of the point of Shark Week is advancing shark conservation. They also made it kind of hard to take the whole thing seriously. So, was the message of airing The Real Sharknado a good or bad thing for Shark Week?

Personally, I've been a huge fan of Shark Week going back about as far as I can remember. I've watched Michael Phelps try to beat a shark (with some fun results), I went along for the ride with the fake documentary about a monster hammerhead, and I freaked out along with plenty of others when a Shark Week biologist was bitten by a crocodile. In the grand scheme of things, I enjoy some good old-fashioned Shark Week shenanigans, even if those shenanigans involve some Syfy stars making jokes about killing sharks with chainsaws and testing the patience of a scientist.

The special didn't try to pretend that it was a serious nature documentary, and if showcasing Sharknado stars drew more attention to the good cause, then I say A+! Besides, just take a look at how The Real Sharknado ended and try to tell me that it wasn't a fun and campy inclusion in Shark Week 2021:

And honestly, The Real Sharknado seems like the most responsible special of the whole Shark Week in comparison to Jackass Shark Week, which went about as well as any Jackass fan could have expected. One of the stars was even bitten by a shark for tempting fate! Ian Ziering and Tara Reid's special was a fun hour of television for me, and definitely didn't turn me off from watching more of Shark Week 2021. In fact, I'd watch The Real Sharknado 2 if that becomes a thing!

Did you like The Real Sharknado? Let us know in our poll below, and keep tuning in to Discovery for the rest of the week for Shark Week 2021. For some non-sharky options now and in the coming weeks, check out our 2021 summer TV premiere schedule.

This poll is no longer available.

Yes, we live in the timeline of $100 million Sharknado lawsuits. Tara Reid is suing Syfy and the Sharknado producers for allegedly using her image on slot machines without her permission.

The lawsuit was filed yesterday, TheWrap reports, and it sounds like the Sharknado star's team may have anticipated such an event.

The suit references Tara Reid's contract for the sixth film, which includes a clause that "in no event shall [Reid's] likeness be used for any merchandising in association with alcohol, tobacco, gambling, hygiene, or sexual products without [Reid's] prior written approval."

Sexual products! Are there Sharknado condoms? I'm afraid to search.

Anyway, this lawsuit alleges that the defendants -- Syfy and the Sharknado producers -- never asked Tara Reid's permission to use her face on slot machines.

According to documents quoted by The Blast, Tara Reid is suing Asylum Entertainment and SYFY Media Productions, claiming false endorsement and misappropriation of celebrity likeness. She alleges they wrongfully licensed the rights to use her image to "manufacturers of slot machines, gambling products and beer makers, who in turn have marketed their product with her likeness, and continue to wrongfully trade and profit therefrom."

She's asking for $100 million in damages, and an injunction prohibiting her face from continuing to be used on machines and products.

You can see a Sharknado slot machine, featuring various characters (including Tara Reid's April), in this visitor's video from a trip to San Manuel Casino.

The Sharknado film series definitely put Tara Reid back on the map, after she broke out as Vicky in the American Pie films and as Bunny Lebowski in The Big Lebowski.

Sharknado debuted on Syfy in 2013, starring Tara Reid as April Wexler, with Ian Ziering as April's ex-husband Fin. The film turned into a campy cult classic, earning huge live Twitter buzz. The franchise continued with Sharknado 2: The Second One in 2014, Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! in 2015, Sharknado: The 4th Awakens in 2016, Sharknado 5: Global Swarming in 2017, and The Last Sharknado: It's About Time in 2018.

After the first movie came out, there was a rumor that Tara Reid might not return, but clearly she did. In fact, Tara Reid is now forever tied to the Sharknado franchise. She told CinemaBlend the franchise has changed her life, with fans always asking her about it:

When Tara Reid isn't starring in Sharknado films -- or apparently suing production over slot machine visuals -- she stars in horror films like Ouija House and Charlie's Farm, and comedies like Last Call and The Hungover Games. Unfortunately, Tara Reid also regularly makes headlines for her alleged behavior, including a recent airplane story she took pains to refute.

The Sharknado franchise may have ended, but there's still plenty of TV to look forward to in 2019.

Syfy's cult made-for-tv film franchise, Sharknado, is finally coming to an end, and it's going out with one of its wildest premises to date. For a film franchise that is centered on a tornado full of sharks, that's really saying something! The final chapter of the series, presently only titled as Sharknado 6, will feature time-travel, which sounds just interesting enough to pull any old fans of the franchise back in for one final ride.

Sharknado 6 will pick up right after the events of Sharknado 5: Global Swarming, which saw the franchise's leading character, Fin, wandering the Earth alone after it was destroyed. Luckily, Fin will find a way to time-travel in Sharknado 6 and will get the opportunity to go back in time and stop the Sharknado that started it all. That would appear to imply Fin is traveling back to L.A. to attempt to prevent the initial cyclone that started the franchise off in the original Sharknado, although its possible there's some Sharknado that goes back in time even further that leads to the L.A. Sharknado happening. The film has been set for a 2018 release and is said to air sometime this August, according to the franchise's Twitter account.

Fans can also expect to see Ian Ziering and other Sharknado vets like Tara Reid, Cassie Scerbo, and Vivica A. Fox riding the storm out one last time. Additionally, Sharknado 6 will also utilize a lot of stunt casting and throw tons of celebrities into the fish-feeding frenzy that will supposedly be the film's final chapter. TVLine reported Anthony C. Ferrante will return to direct the final film, which is only fitting, because he's directed all five previous Sharknado films. Ferrante said on Twitter he's grateful to be ending the franchise that he's worked on all along, although he also immediately retweeted a follower who implied the Sharknado franchise isn't truly over:

In a world where reboots are the norm and the Sharknado films have been just about the most successful franchise to emerge out of the Syfy network for a while, there's always a chance that this might not actually be the final Sharknado adventure. That said, television audiences interests have waned on the films with the franchise's peak viewership of 3.9 million for Sharknado 2: The Second One settling down to merely 1.89 million for Sharknado 5: Global Swarming. With Sharknado 6 being the franchise's final installment, there's still a chance for the film to top its record viewership and really send the franchise out with a bang.

The presently untitled Sharknado 6 will premiere on Syfy in August of 2018. For a look at some things coming to television in 2018 before that, be sure to check out our midseason premiere guide as well as our summer premiere guide.

When it comes to TV movies that go balls-out with action and insanity, no one is flipping TVs over to Lifetime or Hallmark, since it's quite obvious the only real place to go is Syfy for the network's annual Sharknado release. This weekend marks the cameo-filled fifth entry in the popular series, Sharknado 5: Global Swarming, and franchise director Anthony C. Ferrante has revealed his personal Top 10 in the disaster film genre. There are some excellent and surprising choices in this list, but try not to be surprised by #1.

Is there anyone in the world who could have guessed that Sharknado's grand helmer would choose those specific ten flicks as his favorites? Probably the same people who predicted that the series would turn Tara Reid into a cyborg who could resurrect someone using electrified sharks. But thanks to the good folks at Fandango, we now have a better idea of what Anthony C. Ferrante has been thinking about when bringing all the high-flying mayhem to his Sharknado films. If you're looking for more in-depth commentary about why the director thinks these particular movies are the best, head over to Fandango to get his insights. (In fact, you can even find all four previous Sharknado films on the streaming service FandangoNOW, with the flagship entry available for free all day for Friday, August 4.)

I think we can all understand why Jaws is on here, since it shares a lot in common with Sharknado. (Even if the "disaster" isn't as massive as it is in other choices.) In both films, at least one shark kills people. Both look like they were made for more money than their extremely modest budgets. Both movies had a beach in them. And, finally, both had starring roles from Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider. Wait, I might be off about that last one. In any case, there's a similar understanding in why other animal-attack movies like The Birds and Piranha are on here, as well as Twister.

Beyond Jaws and Twister, I think the choice that makes the most sense here is Airplane!, one of my favorite movies of all time. As Anthony C. Ferrante put it, it's all about how the filmmakers made sure all of the recognizable movie beats and plot points of the genre were worked in so that it succeeded independently as a disaster movie, and then layered the hilarious comedy moments on top of all that. And while many may not find direct comparisons between Ian Ziering and Robert Hays as leading men, no one can say the Sharknado films aren't adhering to the disaster-driven formula.

So remember, head to the Fandango link above to get more from director Anthony C. Ferrante about his list, and then jump over to FandangoNOW to watch Sharknado for free, because Friday. Sharknado 5: Global Swarming will make its globetrotting debut on Syfy on Sunday, August 6, at 8:00 p.m. ET. Check out what happened when the producers asked Donald Trump to be the Sharknado POTUS, and then head to our summer premiere schedule and our fall TV guide to see what else is raining down on the small screen soon.

In case you had any fear that Syfy's franchise all about tornados filled with sharks was losing any of its bite, the newly-released details about the fifth installment should set your mind at ease. It was going to be difficult for the title of Sharknado 5 to top last years Sharknado: The 4th Awakens, but Syfy may have just pulled it off. The next movie in the franchise will be called Sharknado 5: Global Swarming, with the timely tagline of "Make America Bait Again!" As if that wasn't bonkers enough, the list of famous folks who will be appearing has been revealed, and it indicates that we may be in for our craziest shark-tornado experience yet.

In Sharknado 5: Global Swarming, Fin and his bionic wife April will face some personal stakes when tornados start whipping sea creatures into the air yet again. Their son gets caught up in a sharknado, which is so fierce that it travels him all over the world and away from his parents as they try to rescue him. They'll travel between London, Toyko, Rome, Amsterdam, and other places also struck by sharknados. Luckily, Fin and April will have help from some elite characters, who will be played by some pretty famous faces.

The Pope will have a role, presumably when Fin and April arrive in Rome. This version of the Pope won't exactly be based on the current Francis or even on Jude Law's Pius XIII; no, this pope will be played by none other than Fabio. Legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk will appear as a weapons operative strategist, while Clay Aiken -- a.k.a., the runner-up from the second season of American Idol -- will play a genius at home on the cutting edge of the technology landscape.

The mother-daughter duo of Olivia Newton-John and Chloe Lattanzi will play brilliant scientists Orion and Electra, who will be hard at work trying to keep sharknados from destroying Australia. Charo will play the Queen of England, while Chris Kattan of SNL will play the Prime Minister of England. Gilbert Gottfried will be a storm chaser named Ron, and Today hosts Al Roker, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Hoda Kotb will turn up as themselves, presumably to report on the latest round of shark-filled tornados.

There will be some Olympians in the mix as well. Diving medalists Greg Louganis and Tom Daley will have roles, and freeskiing medalist Gus Kenworthy will appear as himself. Throw in Cat Greenleaf, Dan Fogler, Tiffany Pollard, Porsha Williams, Bret Michaels, and Margaret Cho, and we'll have plenty of famous folks to help Fin and possibly get chomped to death in the process. They'll be acting alongside returning players Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Cassie Scerbo, Masiela Lusha, and Cody Linley.

You can catch Sharknado 5: Global Swarming when it debuts on Syfy on Sunday, August 6 at 9 p.m. ET. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news, and don't forget to check out our summer TV premiere schedule to discover all your viewing options now and in the coming weeks. Be sure to drop by our rundowns for cable/streaming and broadcast TV renewals and cancellations as well. If streaming is more your style, our Netflix premiere schedule will help you out.

Syfy is the home of a wide variety of monster movies filled with varying degrees of camp, and the network can boast classics like Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, Piranhaconda, and Frankenfish. The most successful campy movie to come out of Syfy, however, has to be Sharknado back in 2013, which first introduced audiences to the concept of tornadoes filled with sharks. The movie spawned a franchise currently comprised of four movies, and a fifth is in the works. The description of Sharknado 5 has been released, and now we have to wonder: could Sharknado 5 be the end of the franchise?

Sharknado 5 will pit Fin Shepard and April Wexler against sharks once again, but on an even larger scale than they've ever faced before. Humanity is facing a "global shark takeover," and it's up to Fin and April to save the world from the windstorms filled with sharks.

On the one hand, the description for Sharknado 5 pretty much sounds like a description for one of the previous Sharknado films, simply with a few nouns switched out. On the other hand, however, we have to consider the fact that the Sharknado franchise tackling a global takeover may mean that Syfy is wrapping things up on the shark-filled tornado front. After all, Fin has already battled sharks along an entire coast, in huge U.S. cities, and outer space. Where could they possibly go next?

We may know more once Syfy releases the official title for the fifth movie. Sharknado 5 is only a working title at this point. We've had The Second One, Oh Hell No!, and The 4th Awakens for the last three movies. Could the next movie be The Last One? We found out the fourth movie's title around this time last year; hopefully we'll find out the fifth's sooner rather than later. Syfy has confirmed that Sharknado 5 will hit the airwaves on Sunday, August 6 at 8 p.m. ET, which is slightly slater than The 4th Awakens last year, which could be why we don't yet know the official name.

We do know three of the actors who will be back for Sharknado 5, though, so that's at least something. Ian Ziering and Tara Reid will be back, naturally, and they'll be joined Cassie Scerbo, who had a memorable role in the first Sharknado movie. Her character was swallowed by a shark and seemingly gone for good, but she made it out alive. Filming for Sharknado 5 began earlier this year in a number of different places, including Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Only time will tell if Sharknado 5 is truly the last of the franchise. I wouldn't be surprised if Syfy continued to bring new installments back every now and then, but one new movie every year might be a bit much for everybody involved. We'll have to wait and see.

Sharknado 5 won't debut until August, so be sure to check out our midseason TV premiere guide and our summer TV premiere schedule for a look at all you can watch in the meantime.

The line between TV and film continues to blur with each passing year. Much of this has to do with the increasing sophistication of televised storytelling, but we mustn't forget the contribution of proper special effects in this equation as well. CGI used to be something almost exclusively reserved for the highest tech and advanced Hollywood blockbusters, but now even the most seemingly mundane TV dramas can use it to great effect.

That said, not every TV show manages to use CGI successfully. Even some seriously prestigious series have incorporated downright terrible special effects over the course of the last few years, and that's what we're here to focus on. We've compiled a list of awful CGI moments from some genuinely great TV series...and others. Check out our list, and let us know what you think of this laughably bad use of the filmmaking technology. We have plenty of examples to get to, so let's kick this list off with a superhero who has actually benefited greatly from advances in special effects in recent years.

The Flash's Speedster Fights

The Scarlet Speedster's series on The CW deserves a ton of credit for the fact that it makes The Flash seem like a real hero. Many of the CGI effects used on The Flash are great, but the slow-motion speedster fights are just downright awful. The show hasn't found a way to make Barry Allen NOT look like a man-shaped balloon while he tumbles against his enemies in slow motion, and it's one of the few areas where The Flash has consistently faltered in delivering strong special effects. How they made King Shark look better than the central hero, I will never know.

The Walking Dead's Deer

Though its walker-flavored gore and splatter are always top notch, AMC's The Walking Dead has showcased a few key examples of some pretty bad visual effects over the course of its seven seasons on the air. Arguably the most egregious and Twitter-inflaming example of bad CGI on the zombie series occurred during Season 7 when Rick Grimes came across a comically bad computer-generated deer while within a rundown carnival. It's a particularly bizarre moment for the series when we consider the fact that The Walking Dead has a long history of incorporating real animals and practical effects into these types of shots; I guess they just couldn't swing those deer handler fees.

Terra Nova's Dinos

When your entire series is predicated on the depiction of awesome prehistoric creatures, you better make damn sure that your dinosaurs look flawless. Sadly for Terra Nova, that simply wasn't the case. The short-lived sci-fi series framed itself with a uniquely engaging premise involving humanity colonizing the past in order to escape a dying future, but it was ultimately held back in part by the downright terrible computer effects that were used to create the show's central monsters. Stephen Spielberg may have innovated CGI dinosaurs with the original Jurassic Park, but these Fox-originated creatures clearly were not ready for the size and scale that a TV budget offers filmmakers.

Supernatural's Leviathan Monsters

Sam and Dean Winchester have faced off against a wide variety of demonic cretaures throughout their twelve seasons on the air. While most of these craetures have generally looked pretty good in their various incarnations, one particular type of monster stands out for being pretty awful looking: the Leviathan monsters introduced during Season 7. Although the basic pitch behind the overall creature design is a fairly interesting and cool concept, the execution of the Leviathan design leaves quite a bit to be desired. The effects involved in creating these "Chompers" is comically bad, and it really has the effect of taking the audience out of a moment that should be scary. Remember The Langoliers TV movie?

Ringer's Boat Scene

Ringer wasn't the most well-received show when it debuted back in 2011, and the mediocre reception ultimately led to a limited life span. However, the show's single season on the air did manage to give us one of the worst modern examples of green screen in recent history. The sequence in question is supposed to see two of the show's characters out on a boat staring over the water at the horizon. Instead, the entire scene looks like it was entirely shot indoors (because it was) and the plainly obvious green screen effect has gone on to become one of Ringer's most enduring legacies.

*Once Upon A Time's Creatures *

Once Upon A Time has easily become one of ABC's most popular shows for its inventive take on classic fairy tales and Disney stories. However, while the show is fun and thrives on its whimsical premise, that doesn't change the fact that it has consistently used some pretty poor CGI to create many of its characters and monsters since 2011. One could make a fairly easy argument that the clearly fake creatures (such as the above dragon) add to the overall charm of the series, but we simply have to include Once Upon A Time on this list for its lofty ambitions and its poor execution.

Pretty Little Liars' Capitol

Of all the entries on this list, this one stands out simply because of how wholly unnecessary it was. During a particularly notable scene during the Season 6 midseason premiere of the series, Spencer Hasting sits down on a bench outside of the U.S. Capitol in D.C.. Rather than film on location, Pretty Little Liars opted to use a green screen to project the iconic building behind the character. As you can very clearly tell from that photo: it didn't work. The shot received the ire of fans almost immediately, and viewers even demanded that the series reshoot the scene in order to fix it for future audiences.

The Entire Sharknado Franchise

Last but not least, we come to the king of all bad TV CGI: the endearingly terrible Sharknado franchise. Over the course of the entire made-for-TV series, the Sharknado films have lived and died by terrible special effects that don't even come close to portraying real sharks or real massacres. That said, unlike the rest of the entries on this list, it's pretty clear that the Sharknado TV films aren't trying to convince you that the sharks are real. They look like they're rendered for the graphics on a Playstation 2, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Never change, Sharknado; we love you for this.

What other bad uses of CGI on TV have stuck out to you over the years? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below! And don't forget to head to our midseason premiere schedule and our summer TV guide to find out what other shows could be delivering abysmal CGI in the future.

Sharknado 5 is officially a thing and many familiar faces are returning to the shark infested franchise! Tara Reid, Ian Ziering, and Cassie Scerbo will all be making their return for this tongue in cheek Syfy hit. The film starts shooting today and will take place in Bulgaria, the U.K., Australia and a couple other places. In case you haven't been following each and every film like I'm sure literally everyone else in the world has, here are some breakdowns on the cast that will help you play catch up.

Tara Reid, whose character's fate was left up to fans for Sharknado:The 4th Awakens _(so clever), will return as April Wexler. April is the estranged wife of main man Fin Shephard (who we'll get to in a bit) and has changed slightly if you haven't been keeping up with the films! In _Sharknado 4, we learn that April has been badly injured and would likely be dead had her father not turned her into a cyborg. I know, but are you really surprised that Cyborgs exist in a world where tornadoes spontaneously appear with killer sharks inside of them? Anyway, April is now a cyborg that can now fly and shoot lasers out of her hands. She's basically like Iron Man if Iron Man didn't have a suit and was a woman and not rich. Really the only thing they both have in common is they both shoot lasers out of their hands and need robotics to survive...

Of course, we can't have a Sharknado film without our leading protagonist Fin Shepherd (Ian Ziering)! Fin has had a tough time having to deal with both his ex-wife and a bunch of sharks attacking, but he's been tough enough to make it all the way to now so I gotta give him credit for that. No word on what's in store for Fin in this most recent story, but the ending of the last movie implied we were going to be seeing a global crisis of sorts, which seems to be confirmed by the multiple shooting locations. Let's hope Fin can survive another round of spinning sharks in Sharknado 5!

Making her return to the series is fan favorite Nova (Cassie Scerbo) who, despite the series best attempts to kill her off, keeps finding herself back in the fray. The first film saw the former employee of Fin Shepherd get swallowed whole by a shark, and after a brief cameo in the fourth film where she emerges from a crumpled Eiffel Tower, Cassie is back and (we can hope) less of a hero than her former lover Lucas (played by Frankie Muniz), who sacrificed himself to blow up a Sharknado in Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No. Muniz is just the tip of the iceberg as dozens of celebrities have lent their talent to the cheeseball series and I can't wait to see who Syfy convinces to hop on for Sharknado 5.

There's no word yet on when the film is set to release, but you should have enough on our plate with new shows already. If you don't be sure to check out our midseason premiere guide!

Television can be a little bit of a wasteland over the summer when so many of the biggest series are on hiatus. Luckily, the past few summers have featured such an exciting TV event that hiatuses really don't hurt so much. Syfy's Sharknado franchise --that centers on, you guessed it, tornadoes filled with sharks -- has released an installment every year since the first premiered in 2013, and each has included cameos from celebrities large and small. Sharknado: The 4th Awakens will be no different, and the latest announcement of famous folks to show up in The 4th Awakens reveals that WWE star Seth Rollins will soon be part of this over-the-top universe.

Seth Rollins will play the part of AstroTech Lopez in Sharknado: The 4th Awakens, according to Deadline. No further details are yet available about what his role as Lopez will entail, but I'm guessing the poor guy will find himself wrestling a shark in a space-based setting before being chomped to bloody bits. Celebrities tend to die in Sharknado movies, but at least Rollins has the skills and muscles to believably take a few sharks down with him before he succumbs to the latest freak wind incident. A battle between a shark and an AstroTech worker built like Seth Rollins has the potential to be seriously epic.

Of course, AstroTech Lopez might not be prepared enough for a sharknado to really make a solid last stand. The 4th Awakens will pick up five years after the shark-filled mess that destroyed much of the East Coast in Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! There have been no deadly weather disasters for our lowly hero Fin since that coast-hopping sequel, but the sharknados will be back once more to throw all manner of sea creature at him and his family and his potential acquaintance AstroTech Lopez.

Luckily for the East Coast, it sounds like the sharknados will be popping up closer to the West Coast this time around. Given that Wayne Newton and the Chippendales dancers are also showing up for cameos, we can expect that Las Vegas to be the next place hit with one. It'll have to be an epic tornado to have blown sharks all the way from the ocean to Nevada, but stranger things have happened in this universe. (See: Tara Reid giving birth inside of a shark.) Hey, maybe they're wrestling fans and are pissed that Rollins won and then immediately lost the belt at the last WWE pay-per-view.

Seth Rollins, Wayne Newton, and the Chippendales hunks are only a handful of the celebrities set to cameo. Gilbert Gottfried, Steve Guttenberg, and Paul Schaffer are among the most notable names set to show up and probably die in The 4th Awakens along with Gary Busey and Cheryl Tiegs. Ian Ziering will be back as Fin, and Tara Reid's April has evidently survived her cliffhanger from the end of Oh Hell No! David Hasselhoff and Ryan Newman will reprise their roles from the previous film.

This will be the former WWE Heavyweight Champion's first notable role on the small screen in a completely fictional setting. Rollins, whose real name is Colby Lopez, is also set to appear in the feature Temple, written by The Guest scribe Simon Barrett. He was also involved in quite the surreal rivalry with then-Daily Show host Jon Stewart, appearing on the nightly news show a couple of times for a "story" that culminated in a [silly Summer Slam incident][1] that had Stewart turning face on Jon Cena. That kind of narrative is about what we expect from this shark-quel.

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens will premiere on Syfy on July 31. If it's anything like the previous movies, it should be a big hit on social media that will have viewers going "WTF?!" for days. Check out our breakdown of the biggest "WTF?!" moments from Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! for a refresher before The 4th Awakens hits the airwaves.

[1]: http://This will be the former WWE Heavyweight Champion's first notable role on the small screen in a completely fictional setting. Rollins, whose real name is Colby Lopez, is also set to appear in the feature Temple, written by The Guest scribe Simon Barrett. He was also involved in quite the surreal rivalry with then-Daily Show host Jon Stewart.

The Sharknado franchise – which, yes, is actually still a thing – would never have gained a cult following if not for the name. Sure, the appeal of the Syfy movies is arguably the action, but it’s that titular promise of tornadoes full of sharks that piques the curiosity. The franchise has already produced three Sharknado films, and we’ve known for a while that a fourth was on the way. Syfy has now released the sequel's subtitle, and it couldn’t be any better. This summer, we’ll be able to tune in to Sharknado: The 4th Awakens.

Much like everything else about the franchise, the Sharknado: The 4th Awakens title can definitely qualify as “so bad it’s good.” It even manages to be better than the previous two Sharknado sequels’ names. Sharknado 2: The Second One in 2014 and Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! in 2015 can be remembered fondly, but there will likely be no beating The 4th Awakens. If there was one thing missing from Sharknado since the original film’s premiere in 2013, it’s Star Wars.

The 4th Awakens doesn’t premiere until July 31, so we still have quite a wait until we get to see latest edition of the guilty pleasure franchise. Luckily, Syfy has released some details about what to expect along with the A+ subtitle. The fourth movie will open on a society that has gone five years without any sharknadoes, which is well-deserved after the destruction to the East Coast in Oh Hell No! Fin and his family have not yet looked into somehow moving permanently into a space station without either sharks or tornadoes, but those pesky whirlwinds of ferocious fish will be whipped their way in entirely new and horrifyingly awesome ways.

Ian Ziering will be back as Fin, and Tara Reid will return in some manner. David Hasselhoff and Ryan Newman will reprise their roles as Gil Shepard and Claudia Shepard from Oh Hell No! as well. The rest of the cast is still being added to, but we can definitely look forward to Gary Busey as April’s dad and Cheryl Tiegs as Fin’s mom.

Sharknado has managed to make it to four movies thanks to a major presence on social media from the very beginning. Celebrities were tweeting and the title was trending worldwide when the original first aired. The estimated Twitter impressions for Sharknado 2 were over a billion, and Sharknado 3 delivered such major WTF moments that many of us are still talking. With a name like Sharknado: The 4th Awakens, there can be no doubt that Syfy will have another social media hit. Honestly, I already kind of want to start tweeting about what Emo Kylo Ren would do in the event of a sharknado.

Plus, how could you possibly not be excited about a TV movie that boasts one of the most hysterical and brilliant social media fan participation events in history. For the specifics, click over to the next page...

July 31 feels like an awfully long way away now that we know the full title for the next movie, but at least the first three are available for Netflix subscribers to stream as many times as possible in preparation for The 4th Awakens on Syfy.

Just when you thought the world couldn’t get any more insane, Syfy went and gave the greenlight to another Sharknado movie… and we’re so happy about that. The upcoming sequel will see Ian Ziering’s Fin Shepherd return to do battle with another army of swirling sharks while also revealing the fate of Tara Reid’s April Wexler – whose survival was left up to the viewers in an inspired Jason Todd-esque cliffhanger. We still know very little about the upcoming fourth installment in the Sharknado saga, but we have just learned that Syfy has just added numerous additions to the films cast, including Gary Busey, Cheryl Tiegs, Tommy Davidson, Imani Hakim, Cody Linley and Masiela Lusha.

Of the many new additions to the cast, the most notorious is actor Gary Busey (as seen above), whose not-so-borderline insane personality has provided him with a cult following over the years in movies ranging from Lethal Weapon to Point Break. He will take on the role of Wilford Wexler, April Wexler’s father and (possibly mad) scientist who excels in the field of advanced robotics. Like we said though, he won’t be the only actor joining the fray in Sharknado 4, and let's take a closer look at the rest of the cast that will get caught up in tornadoes full of apex predators.

Cheryl Tiegs

A woman who needs no introduction, Cheryl Tiegs has become known as one of the most iconic models in American history. In Sharknado 4, she will portray Fin’s mother Raye, an independent free spirit who has no trouble making her opinions known. While we can’t wait to see what she brings to the role, she will undoubtedly feel the weight Col. Gil Shephard’s sacrifice during the climax of the last Sharknado.

Tommy Davidson

A longtime fixture in the comedy community, Tommy Davidson has appeared in numerous cult classic movies and TV shows over the years, ranging from Juwanna Mann to In Living Color. In Sharknado 4, he will play a character named Aston Reynolds, a billionaire tech genius who uses his company’s resources in an effort to prevent future sharknados. Based upon the title of the movie, we have a sneaking suspicious that might not go too well for him.

Imani Hakim

Audiences will likely recognize Imani Hakim from her role as Tonya Rock on the beloved sitcom Everybody Hates Chris. Now it seems the child actress has grown up, as Hakim will portray Gabrielle in Sharknado 4, who is a tough as nails soldier who has no problem standing up for herself in the face of overwhelming danger.

Cody Linley

Longtime Disney fans will recognize singer and actor Cody Linley from his role as Jake Ryan in the popular Disney Channel original series Hannah Montana. Sharknado 4 will see Linley take on the role of Matt, Fin and April’s oldest son. Having survived the events of the first movie, Matt went on to become an expert pilot and longs to return to his hero father’s side.

Masiela Lusha

Rounding out the cast is Masiela Lusha, another former sitcom star who first gained notoriety for her role on the hit ABC series George Lopez. Lusha will appear as Fin’s cousin Gemini, another member of the Shepherd bloodline who has absolutely no trouble getting their hands covered in shark guts when a sharknado touches down.

With all of these new additions to the already stellar cast, Sharknado 4 promises to be one of the best installments in the franchise to date. We will keep you up to date with all of the latest and greatest Sharknado information as it becomes available to us.

Oh, Sharknado, you’re a thing that exists in the world. The super-schlock franchise that somehow captured the hearts and minds of America is returning to Syfy next month for the third installment—yes, there are now three Sharknado movies if you missed that. The latest chapter in the saga just dropped a quick new teaser trailer for Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No. Watch it below at your own peril.

Back in 2013, Syfy unleashed what looked like another of their intentionally campy, pseudo-nature monster flicks the network had become known for. Little did they know the little picture from low-budget film factory The Asylum, fronted by a washed up star from Beverly Hills 90210, and featuring a cyclone that spews man-eating sharks all over Los Angeles, was about to become a cultural phenomenon.

As the first became a massive hit, the cleverly titled Sharknado 2: The Second One was commissioned, once again to star Ian Ziering and Tara Reid. This time they moved the action to New York and filled the scenes with celebrity cameos, including, but not limited to, Kelly Ripa, Wil Wheaton, Kelly Osbourne, Mark McGrath, and countless others.

This all leads us to the mayhem you just witnessed above, and Sharknado is about to join the ranks of the all-time greatest movie trilogies, like The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and The Godfather. Like its predecessor, Oh Hell No features a laundry list of famous faces who lined up for a chance to be eaten by an airborne shark. David Hasselhoff shows up, wrestler Chris Jericho will make an appearance, and billionaire Mark Cuban even plays the President of the United States (Ann Coulter is his VP). As you can see from this trailer, which features President Cuban running down the White House hallways with Ian Ziering, screaming and firing off automatic weapons, he’s not some stuffed shirt politician, oh no, he’s certainly a man of action.

And just in case the movie isn’t enough to sate your appetite, there is an Archie/Sharknado crossover comic that is scheduled to be released in conjunction with Oh Hell No, because why not? Looks like the Sharknado is coming to Riverdale. Jughead best watch out.

So Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No is something that’s happening, and if you’re interested, set a reminder on your TV for July 22. But don’t worry if you miss it or if your DVR magically forgets to record, because if history is any indicator, Syfy will play this bad boy practically on a loop for the following few weeks.

In a few months, viewers will be graced with the latest installment of everybody's favorite disaster franchise Sharknado. One of the Sharknado 3 stars, David Hasselhoff, was out promoting the film recently and made a few very funny and extremely blunt comments about the upcoming made-for-TV movie.

Hasselhoff shared many thoughts on Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! in his recent interview with HuffPost Live, and, not one to hold back, he delivered a few frank comments that pretty much summed up the sequel as nothing short of terrible. Here's what the actor had to say:

He didn't stop there, though, as he went on to call the upcoming shark pic potentially “the worst movie you have ever seen.” While I can't help but agree, anybody who's seen the horror comedy films knows they are intentionally ridiculous, and have been popular because of that tone. The Hoff is clearly on board with the backwards nature of the film's marketing as well, as he doesn't bash the upcoming sequel in a negative manner, rather choosing to do so endearingly. He goes on express how fun it was to make the movie, saying the filmmakers had a “great sense of humor,” while assuring fans that “everybody's in on the joke.” We're thinking maybe the serious nature and killer CGI effects of the second film must have created a bit of a confusion for viewers. Thank you David Hasselhoff for clearing things up.

We first learned Sharknado 3 was happening when it was announced last April, months prior to the premiere of Sharknado 2. With the first film set in Los Angeles and the second bombarding New York City, we were happy to learn late last year that this upcoming third installment will take place in multiple locations including Washington DC and Orlando, FL. But we're not limited to those locations as Syfy promises destruction across the “Feast Coast.” While we're not certain where the film will take us, rest assured we'll get a heavy dose of the franchise's ridiculous CGI effects and potentially a few more chainsaw moments.

Hopefully we'll be lucky enough to get another entire week full of shark mania like last year's Sharknado Week. Sharknado 3 stars Tara Reid, Frankie Muniz, Bo Derek, Mark Cuban, Rick Fox, Ryan Newman, Ian Ziering and the above-mentioned David Hasselhoff among others. That's one heck of a cast! The epic disaster pic was written by Thunder Levin and directed by Anthony C. Ferrante and premieres on Syfy on July 22.

It seems like every time there’s news of a bizarre and over-the-top crime happening, Florida is somehow involved. But the next wave hitting the state won’t involve bath salts or tomahawk-wielding thieves, for it will be the location used in Syfy’s upcoming disaster comedy thriller Sharknado 3. At least, it’s one of the states involved. Check out the announcement tweet below.

Yes, Syfy and its president Dave Howe have revealed that Sharknado 3 has not only been confirmed, but that it will head up and down the – wait for it – “Feast Coast” for this next CGI-filled crazy-fest. Though they’ve already been to New York City for Sharknado 2: The Second One, the bad weather is heading south, and this round of Sharknados will hit not only Orlando, Florida, but Washington D.C. and presumably more East Coast hubs. I wouldn’t mind seeing some sharks destroy the Georgia Dome.

No other information has been revealed, not even whether or not they’re going to use “Feast Coast” as the sequel’s subtitle. Back when I spoke with Tara Reid a few weeks ago, Syfy still hadn’t contacted anyone about returning for Sharknado 3, and there wasn’t a director or a writer yet, either. Of course, she also said there was only about a month in between receiving the Sharknado 2 script and that film’s production start, so we might know who 20 of the cameos are before we even know who the stars will be. Though we can assume Ian Ziering and Reid will be leading again.

Speaking of cameos, one of the weirdest pre-production rumors going around this project is that Daniel Radcliffe is interested in joining the cast for a small role. There’s no way to really know if that’s true or not at this point, but it would be pretty goddamned amazing if Sharknado 3 ended up passing by Universal Studios’ The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – or a punnily-titled facsimile – and Radcliffe would be there. In fact, back when I listed my hopes and dreams for Sharknado 3, a Florida setting was my first topic, specifically for use of the amusement parks there. Make this happen!

Now that they’ve also confirmed Washington D.C. as a location, all I’m picturing is a stack of sharks that have been impaled by the Washington Monument, or a bunch of them flopping about on Lincoln’s lap in the Lincoln Memorial. How are they going to show the main characters in both D.C. and Florida, not to mention wherever else they’re going? Is this going to be like Twister? So many questions! All of them irrelevant!

Sharknado 3 is set to touch down all over the place in 2015.

Peanut butter and jelly. Bogart and Bacall. Sharks and Tara Reid. Two of these duos are obvious good fits, while the other combination’s satisfaction is entirely surprising. Syfy has given audiences not just one but two Sharknado movies, and arguably no one was more surprised by the films’ unmitigated success than Reid herself, who reprised her role of April Wexler for the sequel. I recently spoke with her ahead of Sharknado 2: The Second One hitting Blu-ray and DVD – it’s out today – and the actress shared one big way in which the low-budget franchise has changed her life.

Personally, I’d rather be known for The Big Lebowski, but then Reid is much more of a heroine in Sharknado 2 than she was as Bunny Lebowski, and is thus presumably easier to cheer for from across an L.A. street many decibels louder than the traffic passing by. I mean, she jams a circular saw into the wound where her hand used to be, and uses it to chop a shark up. All without screaming in exorbitant pain. It’s both classy and classic.

Electrical appendages aren’t the only shocking thing about Reid’s experiences with these movies. As the films created an audience largely through rampant social media buzz, the movies’ releases were quite different from your average film – even for TV movies – and on the opposite side of the galaxy from the process behind Star Wars: Episode VII, that other sharks-and-tornadoes movie. (Just a rumor.) Reid talks about the flipped schedule below.

With Sharknado 3 an eventual reality, not even the sky is the limit for where this mayhem can take Syfy audiences. Find Sharknado 2: The Second One’s Extended Version out on Blu-ray and DVD now, with special features including a filmmakers’ commentary, a making-of featurette, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and a feature on the plethora of oddball cameos sprinkled throughout the film.

The ratings are in and it sounds like Sharknado 2: The Second One was a hit for Syfy. According to the network, the shark-filled sequel movie scored record-setting numbers for the network, and -- no exaggeration, apparently -- a billion twitter impressions. Given the number of trending topics related to the movie last night, #SawHand included, we're inclined to believe that figure.

Syfy announced today that Sharknado 2: The Second One brought in a record-setting 3.9 million total viewers and 1.6 million adults 18-49, becoming Syfy's most-watched original movie ever. The estimated Twitter impressions are said to be a billion. And at one point, the film dominated the trending topics, securing all top 10 spots in the United States. Syfy clearly did their research on this situation, noting:

Syfy goes on to note that Sharknado 2 beat out Game of Thrones, The Bachelorette and Survivor in being the most social movie/TV show ever.

Twitter dominance is what put the first Sharknado on the map. While its social networking success didn't exactly translate to a ratings victory last year, it did garner the TV movie enough attention to secure it not one but two sequels. The yet-to-be-titled third Sharknado is due out next year.

Following up on last summer's Los Angeles-based Sharknado, Sharknado 2: The Second One was directed by Anthony C. Ferrrante from a screenplay by Thunder Levin. The sequel took the action to New York, bringing Fin (Ian Ziering) and April (Tara Reid) to the big apple where another Sharnado was on the verge of tearing through the city. Those looking for a massive storm and crazy, bloody shark mayhem likely weren't disappointed with what the sequel had to offer. The steady flow of Twitter activity throughout the broadcast was probably a good indication that -- at the very least -- people were having fun watching the movie and sharing their reactions with other fans.

Here's the poster Syfy used to promote the movie, showing a tornado of sharks tearing up Manhattan...

Syfy will air Sharknado 2 again Saturday, August 2 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, August 3 at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT). You can read our review of the sequel here, and read our wish list of things we want to see in the anticipated third Sharknado movie here.

Watching Syfy’s Sharknado 2: The Second One for actual movie thrills is akin to having elective surgery from a surgeon who works only by tickling his patients. It’s ludicrous, completely devoid of physics and utilizes performers whose acting skills were forged in a child’s playpen, which means it’s at least twice as good as its predecessor. With Sharknado 3 coming next year, you can bet that The Asylum writer Thunder Levin will sidestep maturation in favor of upping the flying shark ante to even more astronomical heights.

As such, we thought it’d be fun (though admittedly not dramatically insightful) to put together what we think would be the greatest possible sequel for this “fin-chise.” And though it was decided that taking a running leap off of the top of a speeding bus would be better for society, here are three ingredients that the next Sharknado installment needs to become the greatest (shark-filled made-for-TV) movie of 2015.

A Florida Setting

We’re not here to question the weather patterns of Sharknados and how they manage to follow Ian Ziering’s character Fin across the country, but we’ll gladly use that hollow plot contrivance to take the action to a different setting. Bigger is better, right? And what would be bigger and better than seeing an entire state get demolished? We’ve seen the sharks take over L.A. and New York – or at least CGI stand-ins for those cities – and now we want to see a bunch of sharks flying over what has, in recent years, become a go-to state for weird and wacky news stories. Plus, it’s got Disney World!

The Florida experience would be two-fold, and theme parks are definitely part of it. There’s no possibly way this production could actually secure the rights to film in Disney World, but that doesn’t mean The Asylum can’t put money together to create truly awful ripoff rides and attractions. (Tomorrowplace, Coffee Cup rides, Space Hill, etc.) Hinted at by the picture above, this would also be an excellent way to reference the now-missing Jaws: The Ride at Universal, which is owned by NBCUniversal, which also owns Syfy. Shark symbiosis! And then once we’re done with the parks, there’s all those beaches and wetlands to play around in. Sharknado 2 brought in a random ass alligator for its subway scene, so why not have an entire set-piece involving sharks falling down on alligators, while Fin and his crew run through swamp water? Forget Vegas. Forget Paris. Florida needs to get sharkified.

A New Batch of Guest Stars

Don’t get me wrong, the list of guest stars and cameos in Sharknado 2 is applaud-worthy, if not award-worthy. Airplane!’s Robert Hays showing up in the beginning as a pilot was pretty much enough for me to forgive this pic’s lack of story and realism. But then there were Taxi’s Judd Hirsch, Pepa, Robert Klein, Biz Markie, Al Roker and Billy Ray muh-fuckin’ Cyrus, to name just a few. (Also, how about Wil Wheaton showing up just to get eaten?) Can this cast possibly be topped? Absolutely.

Let’s bring Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer to Sharknado 3, shall we? Considering Mark McGrath has a starring role in Sharknado 2, I think we can make room for other non-actor musicians here. Richie Sambora and Tom Araya are also welcome. Leave it to Beaver’s Jerry Mathers is still kicking it, so why not bring him and Donna Reed’s Paul Peterson in to play somebody’s bumble-worthy dads. Let’s get Bob from Sesame Street in there as well, or maybe just a Muppet character that everyone pretends is real. We’ve already seen Andy Dick, so why not have Pauly Shore playing a hermit who only comes out of his abode to talk weasels before getting shark-bit. Maybe the action can head to a skating rink, where Tonya Harding can make a terrible pun. And as far as people playing themselves, Nancy Grace needs to get eaten by a shark. (I’m pretty sure I mean in the movie.) And finally, let’s get American Pie's Chris Kline to appear as Tara Reid’s ex-boyfriend. Meta shark moment!

Diversify the Action

For a while, Sharknado 2 seems like it is heading down an all-new path of completely impossible mayhem – why is it that people on Liberty Island can see shark rain, yet Al Roker and his Today Show staff can’t? – but then Fin falls back on the first film’s gimmicks to try and save the day. It should have felt awesome (or some other descriptor) when Fin finally gets his chainsaw, but the Sharknado gave us the epitome of all chainsaw/shark sequences, so it wasn’t needed. Also, that whole “bomb in the middle of the Sharknado” idea should really be dropped, slingshots and all.

Now that airplanes, subways and taxis have been taken off the table, how about watching Fin & Co. riding golf carts and shooting bazookas at sharks falling into sandtraps. (Maybe Mr. T can cameo as a bazooka store owner or something.) I’m also fairly certain no one would bat an eyelash if Fin got a hold of a hoverboard and could expertly use it in mere seconds, all while shooting fire arrows out of a crossbow. And if we’re going along with the whole “set it in Florida” idea that I’ve already discussed, how about taking the story to Cape Canaveral, where a space shuttle is inexplicably about to be launched. Sharks. In. Space. The only proper way to create a franchise’s third entry.

Now I'm throwing it over to you guys. What do you want to see in Sharknado 3? Should Tara Reid lose her entire face this time?

Syfy may not always have the best eye for original content, but the network sure knows how to replicate a successful venture. This time, they’ve taken an idea from Discovery’s playbook and are using the concept behind the channel’s successful Shark Week to bring even more eyeballs to—you guessed it—Sharknado. Here’s what you need to know about Syfy’s upcoming “Sharknado Week.”

Following the success of last summer’s original movie, Sharknado, Syfy decided to move forward with a sequel. The network got really interactive with the project, asking fans to choose a title, eventually calling the movie Sharknado 2: The Second One. It took months for Sharknado 2 to go into production, but now the TV flick is headed for a July release. The network also has several other shark-related programs in the works at the moment, which led Syfy to the perfect lightbulb moment: Sharknado Week.

The lineup includes Sharknado 2, Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark, Sharkmania: The Top 15 Biggest Baddest Bites and Roger Corman’s Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda. Because Syfy isn’t as efficient at churning out vaguely sci-fi related shark content as Discovery is at churning out actual shark content, “Sharknado Week” will not air as a marathon. Instead, audiences can tune in during primetime for a brand new project every night. Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark will kick off the event on Saturday, July 26 at 9 p.m. ET. The following night, Syfy will get even looser with its concept, airing Sharkmania, a documentary show looking at the 15 best cinematic shark bites of all time. That will air on Sunday, July 27 at 9 p.m. ET.

Interestingly, Syfy isn’t planning to close out Sharknado Week with an actual Sharknado flick. Instead, Sharknado 2: The Second One will air on Wednesday, July 30 at 9 p.m. ET. The show’s horrible summertime timeslot does not inspire much confidence in the project, but since a third movie is on the way, Syfy can’t think it’s that much of a disaster, right? At least Sharknado 2 sports an interesting cast, with Ian Ziering, Tara Reid, Mark McGrath, Vivica A. Fox, and Judah Friedlander signed on, as well as additional cameo appearances from the likes of Kelly Osbourne, Judd Hirsch, Perez Hilton, Matt Lauer, Al Roker, Andy Dick, Robert Klein, Sandra “Pepa” Denton and Biz Markie.

Despite the eccentric cast, Syfy seems to be showing the most confidence in Corman’s latest project, Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda, which is also a sequel of sorts. According to a press release from the network, the original Sharktopus’ kid will match up with a brand new scientific monster to fight for prowess on the food chain. That original movie will air on August 2 at 9 p.m. ET.

As Syfy has proven in the past, projects like Sharknado have typically done better on social media outlets than in the actual ratings. If the network is hoping that “Sharknado Week” will cause a social media heyday, the channel just might get it. However, if this translates into huge ratings, I’ll consider naming my firstborn Sharknado.

Do you guys remember a simpler time, when consumer goods came in only one or two different versions, and radical innovations didn’t seem necessary? Well nobody at Syfy or microbudget production company The Asylum seems to remember those days. Syfy has already given the green light to the presumably ludicrous sequel Sharknado 3 a full three months before Sharknado 2 comes around and barely attracts an audience, despite a strong Twitter presence. Hasn’t the real weather already been bad enough this year?

Via a press release, Syfy and The Asylum wore their gimmicky intentions on their sleeves by making it clear the whole point of this sequel is to take the action to a different city, which is no surprise, since the only thing that Sharknado 2 is accomplishing is moving the characters from Los Angeles to New York. (And then destroying New York through terrible CGI.) I hope you like mysteries, because they’re not releasing where Sharknado 3 will take place just yet.

If I had to take a guess, I’d say the most fin-tastic weather phenomenon on Earth will hit New Orleans during Mardi Gras, or perhaps a heavily populated football game in Miami will be the next target. Dare we even consider what this series might accomplish if it ever makes it into Europe? Seeing a shark get impaled on the Eiffel Tower is an image too strong to stay contained in just one person’s mind!

In case you’ve never actually seen Sharknado before, it basically focused on Ian Ziering’s Finley Shepherd and Tara Reid’s April Wexler trying not only to merely survive a deadly shark attack crisis, but they also try to figure it out. Despite popularity on social networks, the movie still received low ratings when it debuted, so there’s a good chance you never actually watched it. If that’s the case, this highly condensed video below will clue you in on everything you missed. Namely, sharks!

Sharknado 2, which premieres on July 30, reunites Ziering and Reid as New York City becomes plagued by blood-hungry, high velocity sharks. The explosive stunt casting for this flick might be enough to bring a few eyeballs to TVs. You can expect this sequel to feature appearances by Andy Dick, Vivica A. Fox, Judah Friedlander, Judd Hirsch, Kelly Osbourne, Robert Klein, Salt-N-Pepa’s Pepa, Perez Hilton, Biz Markie, Kurt Angle, and Mark McGrath. Impressive, no? Check out one of the first stills below.

Syfy plans on airing Sharknado 3 in the summer of 2015, making this the most painfully amusing yearly tradition since my family decided to put a halt to Lights Off, Pants Off Christmas dinners.

After the high-flying antics and unexpected, whirlwind success of the first Sharknado film, it’s no surprise that Syfy was able to secure some bigger, more outlandish names to join the cast of its sequel, Sharknado 2: The Second One. The network and Sharknado production company, The Asylum, announced a bevy of stars set to join the rollicking and ridiculous sequel, including Kelly Osbourne, Judd Hirsch, Andy Dick, Judah Friedlander, Vivica A. Fox and Mark McGrath.

If you’ll remember from the original set-up, a freak hurricane has hit Los Angeles, causing a bevy of man-eating sharks to be unleashed on the streets of L.A., with no one but Finley ‘Fin’ Shepherd (played by Ian Ziering) to save them. In the follow-up, the storm will switch coasts, heading to New York, and unleashing a giant Sharknado onto the heady (and heavily populated) streets of the Big Apple.

And we all know what that means: there are going to be sharks everywhere. Taking over the Brooklyn Bridge, flying high above the Statue of Liberty, barreling down Broadway, and probably even somehow taking the subway. If these tornado-based sharks are smart they’ll just take the D train down to Coney Island and set themselves free.

Both Ziering and his co-star, Tara Reid (who played April Wexler) will return for the sequel — likely because who else would have enough experience with shark-laden weather patterns to save a mega metropolis like the island of Manhattan? But on their sojourn in New York, they will come across the aforementioned cast of characters.

First up is Vivica A. Fox, a longtime, high school-era friend of Fin named Skye. Mark McGrath (yes, that Mark McGrath of late 90s pop/rock band Sugar Ray fame) will play Fin’s brother-in-law, which, we assume, means he’s the brother of Reid’s character April. (Because, let’s be real, trouble in that paradise would be heart-wrenching.)

The rest of the cast breakdown is as follows: Osbourne will portray a flight attendant; Dick will play a New York City police officer (because that’s wholly believable); Friedlander will play a character named Brian, and Hirsch will portray a cab drive named Ben. Appropriately in his wheelhouse considering his time on the series Taxi.

The premise of the sequel closely follows the set-up of the original, wherein surfer and bar-owner Fin, along with his friends Baz and Nova, set out to rescue his estranged wife April and teenage daughter Claudia from the storm of sharks and sea water. The group utilize the flying skills of Fin and April’s other kid, Mark, to drop bombs on the sharknadoes in order to thwart the threat of flying marine life. meets up with Matt (Chuck Hittinger), the adult son of Fin and April, who is in flying school. They decide to try to stop the threat of the incoming "sharknadoes" by tossing bombs into them from a helicopter. We won’t tell you how it ends, but it is truly a rip-roaring time.

Anthony C. Ferrante will return to direct the screenplay of returning writer Thunder Leving because only someone with that name could come up with a concept this outrageous.

Sharknado 2, which is slated to shoot in New York City starting next week, is scheduled to premiere on Syfy in July 2014.

If ever there was a TV movie that's garnered plenty of buzz through social networking, it's Syfy's Sharknado, one of the cable channel's many original movies. That buzz, which came in the form of a flurry of Tweets submitted during the film's original broadcast, didn't exactly translate to huge ratings, but the film earned itself a sequel and a lot of attention regardless. And now that sequel has a title, which was fittingly selected from thousands of suggested titles submitted through Twitter. And the sequel title is: Sharknado 2: The Second One. As in second Sharknado, not to be confused with the first one? I guess so.

In the official announcement for the sequel's title, Thomas Vitale, Executive Vice President of Programming and Original Movies at Syfy, noted the role Twitter played in the success of the first film when deciding to use the social networking site to find a name for the sequel:

Syfy's announcement says they reviewed more than 5,000 Twitter submissions for the title contest and Sharknado 2: The Second One is what they settled on. Not exactly the most exciting title, but the word "sharknado" was probably always going to sell it anyway, right?

Produced by The Asylum, the second Sharknado movie has been confirmed to take place in New York City, where there will presumably be another shark-infested storm sweeping the coast. We have to face reality here, people. If there's any chance that a storm full of sharks could tear its way through Los Angeles, it seems reasonable to suggest that such an event could happen on the East Coast as well, right? Let's say that it does, and it's happening in Sharknado 2: The Second One, the now officially titled sequel to the Syfy original movie that debuted less than a month ago and took Twitter by shark-swarmed storm.

Let's all pause for a second and watch the heroic act of Ian Ziering's character Fin, who faces off with a shark, armed with only a chainsaw and his intense moxie.

Steve Sanders: 1, Shark: 0.

Syfy plans to have Sharknado 2: The Second One ready to air July 2014, a year after the broadcast of the original film. In the meantime, Syfy's not wasting much time getting the first film out on DVD. Sharknado will be available on DVD and Blu-ray September 3.

Here's another clip from the film.

Say what you will about the SyFy Channel and the quality of their original movies, but they sure know how to keep us talking about their ridiculous films. Sharknado wasn't even that big of a hit when it premiered on the network a few weeks ago, bringing in below-average ratings for a SyFy original, but the buzz around it has been so deafening that the network immediately ordered a sequel. And they might not have told their star about it.

The rabble-rousers at TMZ floated the story that, while development on Sharknado 2 is well under way, but co-star Tara Reid won't be invited back. Reid and 90210 veteran Ian Ziering were the human leads of the film who survived long enough to star in the sequel-- and given that Ziering was the one chopping a shark in half with a chainsaw , he's obviously more critical to the sequel. For Reid's part, though, she's already denying the rumor on her Twitter page:

She also shared a tweet from The Asylum, the production company behind Sharknado, which claimed they would love nothing more than to see her return:

Reid and Ziering were both reportedly paid just $50,000 for the film, a ridiculously low rate that will certainly go up given the massive attention they've gotten for it. But the question seems less about how much Reid will be paid than whether she'll be worth the cost at all. The actress more famous for her hard-partying ways than any actual acting she's done was probably the most famous name in Sharknado before it aired, but now the film is a phenomenon on its own steam. The Asylum, notorious for their love of cutting corners, might be right in thinking they can replace Reid with another B-list blonde without anybody particularly noticing the difference .

With Sharknado now heading to theaters and SyFy soliciting sequel titles from fans, the Sharknado buzz shows no sign of dying down. If Reid and her agent are smart, they're using all this attention to negotiation a much bigger salary for the next time around… even though Syfy and Asylum are also smart enough to say they've fired her, make the debate public, and get away with paying her next to nothing anyway. Sometimes Hollywood negotiations are even uglier and more dangerous than a sharknado.

Sharknado, the endlessly tweeted-about SyFy Original Movie phenomenon, started as the thing you put on when you're bored at home and wonder what everyone on your Twitter feed is talking about. Now it's becoming something you're actually expected to leave your house to see. NCM Fathom Events, the people who bring things like Benedict Cumberbatch's Frankenstein and a restored Lawrence of Arabia to theaters, have announced that Sharknado is coming to a theater near you, as a special midnight showing on Friday, August 2.

You can visit the Fathom Events website to buy tickets. The event is promising that they'll include "never-before-seen footage," but they're not specifying what, and given the low-budget of Asylum-produced movies it's hard to imagine they have impressive effects shots lurking on the cutting room floor. But here's Fathom Events executive vice president Shelly Maxwell explaining why you should see it in theaters anyway:

Who knew, indeed? Sharknado will air again on SyFy on Saturday, in case you want to catch the action in the comfort of your own home and answer that question for yourself. And there's plenty more Sharknado where all this was coming from. Just days after the movie's buzzed-about but under-watched debut, it was green lit for a sequel, which SyFy has agreed to name based on social media suggestions. Look for Sharknado 2: The Sharkening (that's my title, anyway) on TV sometime next year.

As for the original recipe, making its way to your local theater next week, it's hopping on a long tradition of showing genuinely terrible movies to excitable midnight movie crowds, from old-school grindhouse horror and The Rocky Horror Picture Show to the recent phenomenon of The Room. Sharknado definitely has the same kind of so-bad-it's-great cachet of some of these films, but it'll be interesting to see if that can translate to a big screen. Is it more fun when you're shouting your favorite lines out loud instead of tweeting them? Does a room full of rowdy moviegoers spoil the idea that you've discovered this bizarre thing all on your own? Please report back and tell us! In the meantime, watch the Sharknado trailer to prepare yourself for this cinematic experience.

What's worse than a tornado? A tornado full of sharks! Syfy will deliver such a scenario to viewers tonight with their latest original movie Sharknado. If the shark tornado isn't enough to sell you, how about Steve Sanders Ian Ziering and Tara Reid? Both star in this unlikely story that sounds like it should appeal to those who've appreciated such TV movies as Piranhaconda, Arachnoquake and the memorable Sharktopus. The trailer above gives us an eyeful of the terror that awaits.

Produced by The Asylum, Sharknado stars Ziering as Fin, a beachside bar regular who teams up with bartender Nova (Casie Scerbo) and the local drunk George (John Heard), along with Fin's ex-wife April (Tara Reid) to investigate the ecological nightmare that has sharks swimming through the streets of Los Angeles and falling out of the sky. It sounds preposterous, but it looks like a blood-soaked alternative to just about anything else on TV tonight. Unless there's another TV movie or series merging vicious sea creatures and natural disasters airing tonight that we aren't aware of, in which case, you have your pick.

Combining Beverly Hills, 90210's Ziering, Home Alone's John Heard and Tara Reid seems like a recipe for something magical. And at the very least, it'll be raining sharks and nightmares.

The trailer promises storms, jaws and chaos. And the photos in the gallery below offer an eyeful of the kind of carnage these sharks are bringing to those who are unfortunate enough to find themselves in their wake. The teaser below also teases a battle between helicopters and sharks. Because that's the kind of thing that can happen during a sharknado.

Sharknado airs Thursday, July 11 at 9:00 p.m. ET on Syfy.