Sharknado Ratings Sag Despite Twitter Hype, Getting Sequel Anyway
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When the Syfy network aired the mind-numbingly original film Sharknado last Thursday night, it became something of a phenomenon. Not because of class A acting or a deep-as-the-ocean plotline, but because of how many people were talking about the film on Twitter. Prometheus (and everything else) co-writer Damon Lindelof was a voice for the masses, even taking a shot at Ridley Scott’s film, tweeting, “Watching this rolling Ferris wheel made me finally realize Charlize EASILY could’ve run in another direction.” If you’ve ever bitched about the character decisions made in Prometheus, this is something of a victory.
Anyway, based on the 5,000 tweets-a-minute alone, it looked like this would be a runaway cable hit, drawing in the usual die-hard crowd as well as people taken in by the sheer ludicrousness of a film featuring…well, a sharknado, as well as Ian Ziering and Tara Reid. Unfortunately for Syfy, the numbers didn’t add up that way at all, and the ratings topped off at 1.4 million, less than half of which (566,000) was made up of the 18-49 key adult demographic. These aren’t dismal numbers for the network, but they aren’t indicative of the live Internet chatter.
Is that stopping Syfy from already talking about a sequel? Not at all. Nothing is set in stone just yet, but the talks have begun. Sharknado only cost between $1.5 million and $2 million to create, so pumping a sequel out wouldn’t be an impossible task, but one has to wonder what Beverly Hills 90210 star they could rope in next.
“We’ve had movies that are buzzy in the past, and each one gets a little buzzier,” said Syfy V.P. of programming and original movies, Thomas Vitale. “With 2005′s Mansquito, you’d hear that people were getting a kick out of it, but not much more past that. Sharktopus got some buzz on the internet, but it wasn’t as big as it is now. With Twitter and social media being so big, the future is going to be a lot of fun.” In fact, here’s a graph to separate just how little Twitter can be at signifying ratings. I realize it’s just rude to compare this flick to Game of Thrones in any way, but so be it.
There’s a chance for a repeat trend when Syfy re-airs the movie on Thursday, July 18, at 7 p.m. as a lead-in to the Frankie Muniz-led Blast Vegas. Can’t wait to see how that one does.
Ready for a fun fact? The guys at Dread Central provided a clip (shot with an iPhone, so no complaints) which unveils the origins of Sharknado. Its director, Anthony C. Ferrante, wrote the 2012 After Dark Original film Leprechaun’s Revenge, directed by Drew Daywalt. Take a peek at the video below to hear the line that spawned a craze.
Check out the Sharknado trailer below, then let us know if you enjoyed it or thought it was a flying pile of sharkbage.
