'Sharknado 3': Watch George R.R. Martin's Extended Death Scene
If you remember seeing Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin amidst the carnage of Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! rest assured that it wasn’t a sharknado-induced hallucination. As Yahoo TV reported exclusively when the film premiered in July, the novelist really did allow himself to be decapitated in a manner fitting Ned Stark. Sharknado producer and Syfy’s Senior VP Program Strategy, Chris Regina told us that Martin agreed to be part of the third installment in the network’s unstoppable franchise in exchange for a print of the original film that he could screen at his New Mexico-based theater, the Jean Cocteau Cinema. That was where he wound up filming his top-secret cameo as well, one that pays homage to the infamous Red Wedding. (Note the bride in white sitting next to Martin, who gets splattered with his hemoglobin after a flying shark takes off his head.)
Related: ‘Sharknado’: How a Man Named Thunder Spawned Syfy’s Flying-Shark Phenomenon
As you can see from this exclusive bonus clip from the Sharknado 3 DVD, which hits stores on Tuesday, Oct. 6, Martin’s cameo was originally much longer. As director Anthony C. Ferrante explains, franchise hero Fin Shepard (Ian Ziering) was originally supposed to drive past the Jean Cocteau during a so-called “Fognado” at which point we’d see Martin going inside and telling the wedding dress-clad woman, “Out there it sure looks like winter’s coming.” “We realized it kind of stopped the movie,” Ferrante says. “Our movie moves fast and it was kind of a slow moment.” Martin’s cameo was nearly scrapped altogether, until Ferrante devised a way to incorporate the scene into the shark-related carnage afflicting the film’s primary setting, Orlando’s Universal Studios theme park. Watch the full, unedited scene above and decide for yourself whether cutting down Martin’s screentime was a tragedy akin to the Red Wedding.
Sharknado 3 is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD on Oct. 6 from Cinedigm.
