Sharknado 5 is getting ready to wreak havoc with your summer. The fifth installment of Syfy’s campy Sharknado series has been announced, and the title couldn’t come at a more perfect time. According to TV Line , Sharknado 5 will be titled Sharknado 5: Global Swarming . And on the heels of the 45th president’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate deal, the title is timely. In addition, the show’s tagline — “Make America Bait Again” — is a play on Trump’s campaign slogan, ‘Make America Great Again.”
If the Sharknado 5 title and tagline aren’t enough to pique your interest, maybe the cast will. Franchise favorites Fin Shepard (Ian Ziering) and his wife, April Wexler (Tara Reid), are back for Chapter 5, and this time things take a personal turn when their young son “gets trapped in a traveling ‘nado and transported all over the world.”
The Sharknado 5 synopsis reveals that the dynamic duo will seek assistance from a “highly-skilled squad of royals, scholars and Olympians” based in London, Rio, Tokyo, Rome, Amsterdam, and beyond for “their most epic battle yet.”
In true Sharknado form, the cameos are all over the board. The most off-the-wall celeb guest is Fabio, who will play as the pope. Yes, you read that right.
The only #FakeNews element on this Breaking Story, is that there are many, many, MANY more #Sharknado5 cameos! https://t.co/d81r3nnxjd
— David Michael Latt (@DavidMLatt) June 1, 2017
In addition, skateboard pro Tony Hawk turns up as a masterful weapons operative strategist, American Idol alum Clay Aiken as a cutting edge tech whiz, comedian Margaret Cho as a bride who gets some unexpected visitors on her honeymoon, and recent Dancing with the Stars reject Charo as the Queen of England, of course.
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Us Weekly also reports that Real Housewives troublemaker Porsha Williams, the Today show’s Al Roker, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Hoda Kotb, singers Olivia Newton-John and Bret Michaels, and Olympian Tom Daley will all make cameos in Sharknado 5 . Original Sharknado cast member Cassie Scerbo will also be back to reprise her role as Nova.
The campy franchise first hit the small screen in the summer of 2013, and it has been an annual shark-a-palooza ever since. Sharknado 5 is a follow-up to last summer’s Sharknado: The 4th Awakens . According to the Los Angeles Times , kicked off its production schedule earlier this year in Bulgaria and reportedly filmed in more than five countries, including Britain and Australia. The Sharknado 5 script was penned by Scotty Mullen, and the latest edition of the TV movie was directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, the man behind the previous four installments.
Sharknado 5’s celeb cameos are insane—including Charo as the Queen of England and Fabio as the Pope?! https://t.co/qoV5QktD4h pic.twitter.com/yl64yLcvQP
— E! News TV Scoop (@eonlineTV) June 1, 2017
When the first Sharknado became an internet sensation back in 2013, star Ian Ziering admitted to the Hollywood Reporter that he never thought the film would ever make it to TV.
“After reading the script, I didn’t think it would see the light of day!” the Sharknado star told THR . “But, you know, I don’t normally do things for glory…And when I read the script and saw that I got to rappel off bridges, chainsaw my way out of the belly out of a shark, you know, this was a chance for me to relive some of those Die Hard moments that I remember being so envious of when I was younger. ”
Ziering also said he would love to do a sequel (how about four?), and he explained why Sharknado is the ultimate summertime guilty pleasure.
“It is the perfect summer movie,” he said. “It has so many different levels. First of all, there’s sharks and then there’s love triangles and unrequited love.”
Sharknado 5: Global Swarming will premiere Sunday, August 6 at 8 p.m. ET on Syfy.
[Featured Image by Mark Davis/Getty Images]