Bad news for Sharknado fans: SyFy's latest cinematic masterpiece might have to be delayed, as its crew is currently going on strike.
According to Deadline, 30-40 of Sharknado 3's production crew walked off set this morning, seeking a health and pension agreement and a IATSE contract.
Members of the crew protested in front of the Burbank office of The Aslyum, the production company behind Sharknado. As Deadline noted, Sharknado 2 was made under a IATSE contract, but this third installment for whatever reason has been non-union.
An IATSE executive told The Hollywood Reporter that she didn't know why the producers won't sign a union contract.
Scott Meehan, an attorney for Asylum, gave a statement to The Hollywood Reporter where he made a mockery of the whole situation. "We are happy to report that we have reached an agreement with the International Brotherhood of Selachimorpha, which represents the sharks in our film," he said. "We will be increasing the amount of chum at the craft services table and will no longer require our employees to sleep without moving."
Unless this issue is resolved very soon, there's a good chance Sharknado 3 might have to be delayed. The movie is set to premiere on SyFy this July, but in the past similar labor contract disputes have lead to production delays. Vanessa Holtgrewe, assistant director of the union's film department, said they'll be out protesting as long as it takes.
If that's the case, we'll have to wait longer to see the insanity of Sharknado 3, which will feature Mark Cuban as president and Ann Coulter as vice president, as we previously reported.
Sharknado has been huge for SyFy these past few years. The previous two movies came along about halfway through the summer, and we have to wonder how a delay might affect enthusiasm for the third movie if it ends up being a summer shark movie that airs during the winter.