‘They all look at this tornado with A DIFFERENT FASCINATION’
More than 25 years after the original Twister hit cinemas, a new group of storm chasers are taking centre stage in Twisters… By Keeley Ryan
Twister left a mark on cinemas when it rst touched down on the big screen in 1996. The lm’s cast included Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jami
Gertz.
It followed two storm chasers on the brink of divorcing, who have to work together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes.
Twister became the second-highest grossing lm of 1996 — following on from Independence Day — and grossed $495 million worldwide.
But now a brand new adventure is set to storm cinemas this week as the standalone sequel, Twisters, arrives on July 17.
The lm follows two equal forces with different motivations, who come together to try and not only predict, but possibly tame, the power of tornados.
Daisy Edgar-jones plays Kate Cooper, an ex storm chaser who is haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years — and who now studies storm patterns on screens safety in Newyork City.
But things change when her friend Javi — played by Anthony Ramos — lures her back to the open plains to test a groundbreaking new tracking system.
Which is where she encounters Tyler Owens, played by Glen Powell.
Tyler is a charming but reckless social media star who thrives on sharing the storm-chasing adventures that he has with his crew — and the more dangerous the storm, the better.
But as storm season intensi es, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed — and Kate, Tyler Javi and their crews nd themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the ght of their lives.
The cast also includes Nope’s Brandon Perea, Golden Globe winner Maura Tierney, Sasha Lane, Harry Hadden-paton, David Corenswet, Daryl Mccormack, Tunde Adebimpe, Katy O’brian, Nik Dodani, Kiernan Shipka and Paul Scheer.
Twisters is directed by Lee Isaac Chung and is produced by Oscar-nominee Frank
Marshall and by Patrick Crowley.
The screenplay is by Mark L. Smith, who wrote Best Picture nominee The Revenant, from a story by Joseph Kosinski, and based on characters created by Michael Crichton and Anne Marie Crichton.
Twisters is a standalone sequel to 1996’s Twister — and Glen previously told how it was“de nitely not a reboot”.
He said,“we’re not trying to recreate the story from the rst one. It’s a completely original story.
“There are no characters from the original movie back, so it’s not really a continuation.”
The Hit Man actor added tovogue late last year that Twisters is“just its own standalone story in the modern-day”.
He continued,“i don’t think anyone has brought up this movie in forever, but talking to people, they’re like, ‘That was one of my favourite movies growing up. That movie terri ed me.’
“When I was working on Top Gun, (Tom) Cruise brought up a really interesting thing, where he’s like, ‘If you want to make movies of a certain size and scope and scale, you have to gure out what can connect with everyone around the world in every territory.’
“And humans versus weather is a very universal idea—how powerless we really are
“I REMEMBER JUST BEING BLOWN AWAY BY THE TRAILER...”
in the face of these cataclysmic forces.” Rumblings about a new take on Twister rst began in June 2020, when there were reports a remake of the original lm was in the works.
And while things didn’t work out for a remake, the sequel was announced in October 2022. Deadline reported at the time that there was hope Helen Hunt may return for the lm — and it was reported it would focus on the daughter of her and Bill Paxton’s characters.
Lee was hired to direct Twisters in December that year — and in March 2023, the casting announcements began.
Filming began in May 2023, but was suspended in July due to the SAGAFTRA strike — and ultimately wrapped in December last year.
The rst trailer for the lm was released in February this year, airing during the Super Bowl.
And at the time, Lee told how “surreal” it was to have the trailer air for the rst time during the Super Bowl.
He told Entertainment Weekly, “When the rst Twister was released, I remember just being blown away by the trailer.
“I remember feeling how realistic that tornado looked. I’d never seen anything like that.
“I still remember that trailer, and I know that with this one, we need to try to top it.”
The lmmaker said that it was“essential”to him to make sure that Twisters “always felt like in that
rst movie, which didn’t necessarily feel like a disaster movie.”
He continued,“to me, it felt like an adventure movie, and I always loved how that movie inspired a generation of meteorologists and people who were interested in science and weather just because it made that study feel like it was an adventure.
“That’s something that I wanted to retain with this one.”
Daisy added that there were “loads of nods to the original lm” — but that Twisters also“feels like a new chapter in a really brilliant way.”
She continued,“there’s new technology, there’s new ways to understand these crazy weather systems and tornadoes — so we’re bringing it up to date with what the state of the world is now.”
Glen said,“if you would’ve told me that I would get to be in a Twister movie when I grew up, I’d say to myself,‘you’re on the right track.’ It’s as cool as it gets.”
And with weather being a pivotal part of the lm, Lee explained that he wanted to go as“practical as possible”when it came to the effects.
Adding that Twisters is an “elemental story”, he told Empire, “We really tore things up. We had