Sharknado Jumps Windows in NZ

Twitter sensation Sharknado will screen in cinemas for one night only – August 23 – a month ahead of its NZ TV premiere on Prime a few days later.

It will be released on DVD and video on demand in October but a Blu-ray edition has yet to be confirmed.

Given the movie’s buzz factor, and its SD showcasing on Prime, Blu-ray should be as big a no-brainer as Sharknado’s scenario: a freak hurricane swamps Los Angeles with water tornadoes that have sucked up thousands of sharks.

But another shlock romp from the same production company, Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies, only went out on DVD here despite a US Blu-ray release (Sharknado debuts on Blu-ray in the US next month).

Usually, four months elapse between a movie’s box office season and its home video bow, and then there’s another three-to-six month window before its pay-TV run.

But Sharknado will jump straight to free-to-air TV in a strategy that’s as unconventional as its US release.

There, it was a social media phenomenon before launching on the Syfy channel, which it followed with VOD platforms and then a theatrical release.

At its peak during the TV premiere, the movie generated 5000 tweets a minute. With a total 387,000 social mentions, it ended up just shy of Game of Thrones’ “Red Wedding” episode.

Subsequent screenings were even more popular because of ongoing media coverage and a sequel is in the works.

Production company The Asylum is synonymous with tawdry “mockbusters” like Transmorphers, Snakes on a Train and the forthcoming Lord of the Elves and Atlantic Rim, but Sharknado is their biggest hit yet, says the movie’s NZ distributor, Vendetta Films.

“We are very excited to bring the cult of Sharknado to Kiwi audiences,” Vendetta’s Jill Macnab says. “It makes Jaws look like Free Willy.”

So far confirmed to screen Sharknado at 9pm on August 23 are: Hoyts Sylvia Park (Auckland), Event Queen St (Auckland), Hoyts Te Awa (Hamilton), Reading Courtenay Place (Wellington) and Hoyts Riccarton (Christchurch).

View the film trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwWA1_83iDY