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:
“’Sharknado’ was an instant hit with fans – and celebrities – from the moment they first saw it, creating a social media phenomenon on July 11 with nearly 400,000 social mentions. Imagine sharks invading from the skies on 40-foot screens in movie theaters nationwide. Next week’s special midnight showing is a first for Fathom and will answer the age-old question: Who knew sharks could fly?”
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.
