Back in 2013, the creature feature sub-genre was shockingly flipped upside down and turned on its head with the release of Sharknado — a $2 million shark epic that went above and beyond to showcase how absolutely bonkers a creature feature horror can truly be. In the years following, shark features such as The Meg (2018) and Meg 2: The Trench (2023) have become major blockbuster hits at the box office, but there’s simply no denying that Sharknado puts both projects to shame — even 10 years after its original television run.
As per Bloody Disgusting (via THR), Sharknado is now enjoying the perfect celebration for its 10th anniversary — with the ever-popular shark thriller receiving a two-night theatrical release for the first time ever. That being said, it truly wouldn’t be a horror summer for the ages without either releasing or re-releasing an assortment of films to take a bite right out of the competition.
Of course, when you take a step back and realize that its current competition would be Meg 2: The Trench — which unfortunately harbored a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes just a few days ago — it almost feels like any shark-based competition is nonexistent. Sharknado, on the other hand, has boasted a 74% score for some time now. And with the ever-popular shark thriller re-releasing in theaters on August 15 and 16, one can only imagine that increased interest will only skyrocket its popularity over a decade later.
All that’s not to say the franchise doesn’t get ridiculously silly after there were 5 other Sharknado sequels, but it’s hard to disagree with the fact that the Syfy original became a certified hit online and generated enough memes to keep it in discussions for decades to come.