‘Sharknado’ Producers Pushing for a Few Oscars

On Tuesday, January 22, the nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced and while that’s just a few days away, that’s not stopping Sharknado producers from making a push for a few Oscars.

Over on Twitter The Asylum — the film studio and producers responsible for not just Sharknado but numerous other so-called “mockbusters” as well as Syfy’s Z Nation — posted their request that they not be looked over for the Oscars this year, playfully noting that they know they were simply forgotten in previous years. Check it out below.

“Don’t forget to give us a few Oscars this year,” the post reads. “We think a few is most fitting because of all the past years we didn’t get any… we know… you forgot. It’s cool. We will take the W in all categories this year to make up for it. Sound good?”

Now, before anyone gets incredulous and start wondering if they are serious, it’s pretty clear that The Asylum isn’t really calling for The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time to go home with any awards — though if there were a category for “Best Shark on Dinosaur Fight” the film would be a shoo in for sure. Instead, the tweet is very much in keeping with the studio’s irreverent take on the work of major studios. Six of The Asylum’s films released in 2018 were riffs off of actual blockbusters, such as Megalodon instead of The Meg, Atlantic Rim: Resurrection instead of Pacific Rim Uprising, and Triassic World instead of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

While The Asylum is highly unlikely to receive any Oscar nods, some of the films they riff off of very well could. Specifically, Avengers: Infinity War (The Asylum’s Avengers Grimm: Time Wars is the mockbuster of the Marvel Studios hit) is likely to get at least a few nominations in a handful of categories. The Marvel Cinematic Universe film is on the shortlist for the Original Score and Visual Effects categories. Avengers: Infinity War has already received some significant awards love with nominations from the British Academy Film Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards, Satellite Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Award, the latter of which sees the film nominated for “Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.”

What do you think about The Asylum’s Oscars tweet? Let us know in the comments below.