SHARKNADO 4: THE 4TH AWAKENS ain't messing around. OK, it's exclusively messing around, but it's pretty serious about it. In addition to releasing a sci-fi tinged poster that's a parody of STAR WARS (check it out below!), they've announced a whole slew of cameos.
At the forefront is CLUELESS' Stacey Dash, who will be playing the mayor of Chicago, in yet another ironic casting following her controversial opinions dismissing the #OscarsSoWhite outrage.
She will be joined by…
Cynthia Bailey (The Real Housewives of Atlanta), Robert Herjavec (Shark Tank), Kym Johnson (Dancing with the Stars), TV host Carrie Keagan, T’Keyah Crystal Keymah (In Living Color), and Baywatch stars Gena Lee Nolin and Alexandra Paul… as Astro-X rocket scientists and astrophysicists.
Benjy Bronk (The Howard Stern Show) as a morning show host, and Duane Chapman (Dog the Bounty Hunter) as a chainsaw dealer. Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts is manager of the Shark World hotel, MMA fighter Frank Mir is its head of security, and Corey Taylor of Slipknot is one of the security guards.
David Faustino (Married with Children) is a Las Vegas gambler, Lori Greiner (Shark Tank) pretends to be a home-shopping guru, Dr. Drew Pinsky (Loveline) is a pastor, and Patti Stanger (Millionaire Matchmaker) plays a reporter.
The cherry on top is Vince Neil of Motley Crue, Wayne Newton, and Todd, Savannah and Grayson Chrisley of Chrisley Knows Best playing themselves.
Now, let's take a breath and check out the plot:
Five years after the East Coast was ravaged in “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!” Fin, his family and the cosmos have been blissfully sharknado-free in the intervening years, but now sharks – and ‘nados! – are being whipped up in places (and ways) least expected…
Here's the already starlingly massive cast:
Ian Ziering and Tara Reid as shark fighters Fin Shepard and April Wexler, David Hasselhoff as Fin's father Colonel Gil Shepard, and Ryan Newman as Fin and April's daughter Claudia. Joining them for this go-around are Tommy Davidson as Aston Reynolds, the playboy billionaire CEO of tech company Astro-X; Gary Busey as April's father Wilford Wexler, a scientist taking part in the development of an Astro-X energy system that can stop the formation of tornadoes; Cody Linley as Fin and April's son Matt, now in the Army; Imani Hakim as Matt's friend and fellow soldier Gabrielle; Masiela Lusha as Fin's cousin Gemini; and Cheryl Tiegs as Fin's mother Raye.
Anthony C. Ferrante returns to direct, with a script by Thunder Levin.
You'll have to watch to discover the fate of Tara Reid's character April, which was voted on Twitter with the hashtags #AprilLives and #AprilDies. SHARKNADO 4: THE 4TH AWAKENS premieres on Sunday, July 31st on SyFy.