How Much Money Did Sharknado Make

In the movie world, there are some franchises that stand tall above the rest. The MCU,Fast & Furious , andStar Wars immediately come to mind. These franchises have cranked out massive movies that have hauled in billions of collective dollars. Even though these franchises have largely dominated the film world, one franchise has been able to carve out a small but unique legacy for itself.

Sharknado is perhaps the most puzzling success of the last 15 years, as the silliness of its premise and its low-budget execution somehow blossomed into a franchise of films that has roped in a loyal following.

Ian Ziering was cast as the lead in the franchise, and people wondered how much the star has been making. Let's end the curiosity and see!

Ian's Salary Started At $100,000

Sharknado, the first flick in what has become a unique franchise of films, was in need of some acting talent, and they hit the negotiating table with Ian Ziering. Turns out, the former90210 star was trying to make a mint right from the jump.

According toCelebrity Net Worth, the folks behind the scenes wanted Ziering to be in the film, and they made an offer of $50,000. The site reports that Ian passed on the offer and made a counter of his own. He wanted to make $250,000 for the flick, or five times the initial offer. This was nowhere close to what was offered, but negotiations would continue.

It was finally agreed that Ian would be compensated $100,000 for his performance in the film and that the movie's name would be changed toDark Skies, which never actually happened. Nevertheless, Ziering netted himself a six-figure payday and production took place. Little did they know then what exactly would take place with this film and its eventual success.

As we saw,Sharknado became an unlikely cult success, with a ton of strange buzz going around upon its release. People just could not get enough of the flick, and eventually, a series of sequels would come into play, effectively driving up Ian Ziering's asking price.

It Doubled For The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Films

Now that the firstSharknado film has been released and was a success, it was time for the sequel party to get underway. Naturally, this led to the film's star getting an increase in pay to take on his lead role once again.

Ian Ziering was able to land himself $100,000 for his first rodeo in theSharknado franchise, and with the second installment on the way, the actor was able to double what he made initially. That's right,Celebrity Net Worth reports that Ziering took his pay up to $200,000 for the secondSharknado film.

Instead of seeing the same type of increase with each newSharknado film, Ziering's salary would remain the same for the third and fourth films. These movies don't utilize a massive budget, to begin with, so it makes sense that they would do their best to reduce costs as much as possible in order to be profitable.

Eventually, Ziering would get a massive bump in pay, but as we will soon see, this increase in pay also caused a wave of outrage.

He Topped Out At $500,000 For Part 5

Sharknado became an unlikely success that spawned a ton of successful sequels. Despite the smaller budgets, Ian Ziering was still landing decent money for his performances. For the fifth film, Ziering's salary would hit a new level and also cause some commotion with the media.

According toCelebrity Net Worth, Ian Ziering would land himself $500,000 for his performance in the film. This was far more than anyone could have predicted, and it was roughly 16% of the film's entire budget. This, however, is where the controversy would begin for theSharknado crew.

It was reported byMoviefone that actress Tara Reid, who had been aSharknado star since the begging like Ziering, was paid a quarter of what he was paid for the franchise's fifth film. There has long been a gender pay gap, and this was a shining example of it happening, even in a silly franchise likeSharknado.

Reid would speak out against the pay gap, saying, "I think Sharknado cares more about their 'extra of the day' than they do about their own cast. You work at something for five years and you don't get treated as well as someone who shows up for a single day?'"

So, Ian Ziering did wind up making himself a decent amount of money while taking the lead inSharknado, but we have to wonder why the same can't be said for Tara Reid. It's a shame that his salary effectively ate into hers in an unacceptable way.

Next: Every Sharknado Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

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