After the overwhelming and incredibly ironic ratings success of SyFy’s Sharknado 2: The Second One, it shouldn’t shock anyone that the network is going back to the well for a third made-for-TV film. More than 4 million people tuned in on July 30 to watch Ian Ziering and Tara Reid half-ass their way through a delightful parade of cameos, broken up by insanely hilarious shark attacks in New York City, and most of us Tweeted throughout the whole “film” to make it as equally successful in shattering social media records. But just as Ziering, an artist at heart, was reluctant to take the role of Fin Shepard in the first place, he’s now putting his foot down on reprising his role for a third time.
According to the New York Daily News’s Confidenti@l, Ziering is holding out on signing his contract for Sharknado 3, because he wants a pay raise. This is a great strategy, said no one, because SyFy and The Asylum, the production company behind this franchise, don’t need to pay him seven figures when there’s a long line of Q-list actors ready to take his place.
“They’ll replace him, they’ll replace (co-star) Tara Reid. They’re not essential to the story. No one is,” a source close to the Asylum, the studio that produces the shark hits for cable’s Syfy channel, tells Confidenti@l. “The sharks are graphics, and everyone else is replaceable.”
“Ian did the work and is fantastic, but it’s not ‘Avatar,’ ” a second source tells us. “The stars of the movie are the sharks, and they’re not even real.” (Via the NY Daily News)
Not to crap on the guy’s efforts, but fantastic isn’t a synonym for “slightly above adequate.” Nevertheless, the most surprising part of this news is that Ziering was paid $400,000 for the first Sharknado film, and he has previously said that he only took the role so he wouldn’t lose his SAG health insurance.
FOUR-HUNDRED-THOUSAND-DOLLARS to sort of act like he’s fighting sharks with a chainsaw. I’m pretty sure Scott Wolf or David Faustino would show up to work for half that amount. Hell, maybe they’d star in Sharknado 3 together as Siamese twins. Or for $10,000, SyFy could probably get former Baywatch actor Jeremy Jackson and call it a day. These cheekbones could totally play Fin’s estranged brother, Tooth Shepard.
