Movies

'Sharknado' is lightning in a bottle: Ian Ziering

'Sharknado 2' returns
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'Sharknado 2' returns

"Sharknado 2: The Second One," the sequel to the swirling cult favorite, takes the SyFy channel by storm Wednesday night.

The popularity of the first movie was driven in large part by Twitter.

Ian Ziering of "Beverly Hills, 90210" fame, who stars in the "Sharknado" movies, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" that he was surprised by the attention the franchise has gotten.

He said Hollywood tries to catch this type of "lightning in the bottle" buzz and it all happened organically.

The SyFy channel is an NBC Universal property owned by CNBC-parent Comcast.

—By CNBC's Matthew J. Belvedere.