Brace Yourselves, A HOT SPRING SHARK ATTACK Sequel Is Coming
And you can be a part of it!
Festival favorite Hot Spring Shark Attack has snapped up a sequel, with Hot Spring Shark Attack 2: Great Kyushu Showdown officially filmed and eyeing a 2026 release – and you can help make it a reality.
Hot Spring Shark Attack, which had its U.S. Premiere at Chattanooga Film Festival earlier this year, is set in a small, hot spring town in Japan, where a ferocious ancient shark reawakens and terrorizes the local hot spring facilities. As the threat escalates, the townspeople band together to protect their beloved town from the menacing predator, leading to a fierce and thrilling battle.
Following screenings at Tokyo International Shark Film Festival 2024 (which just shot straight to the top of our must-visit list), Lisbon International Horror Film Festival, the U.K.'s Soho Horror Film Festival and more, Morihito Inoue’s horror-comedy was quickly nabbed for a U.S. release via Utopia, with a Blu-ray release not far behind.
Per an official press release, Hot Spring Shark Attack 2: Great Kyushu Showdown will see the story expand across Japan's entire Kyushu region, delivering “even bigger tokusatsu action alongside a moving narrative set against the rich backdrop of hot spring culture.” The story follows high school girl Tenma who bonds with the Onsen Shark, Colombre, through her singing voice, as a massive swarm of clone sharks rises from hot springs and volcanoes. Sold.
Stars Kiyobumi Kaneko, Masaki Naito, Sumiya Shiina, Shohei Hashimoto, Takuya Fujimura and Yu Nakanishi return for another round of onsen madness, with Ruka Shibata and Hiroshi Katsuno joining the fun too.
Filming for the sharky sequel took place in Atami City (Shizuoka Prefecture), Oguni Town (Kumamoto Prefecture), and Sukagawa City (Fukushima Prefecture), with the goal of pioneering a new approach to filmmaking through close collaboration with local communities.
If you'd like to know more about Hot Spring Shark Attack 2 and support the campaign, head over to the official Kickstarter for more info, and check out the official campaign launch teaser, plus some first images, below:
