Summary
- Twisters, the sequel to 1996's Twister, will be directed by Lee Isaac Chung, but it will have its own unique story.
- The film will incorporate the theme of climate change, exploring the impact of global warming on storms.
- The cast of Twisters includes Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos, and Maura Tierney in a small role.
Welcome back to the suck zone, storm chasers. One of the most eagerly-awaited, and intriguing, films of 2024 is surely set to be Twisters. The sequel to the 1996 cult classic Twister from Jan de Bont, the film will be directed by Academy Award nominee Lee Isaac Chung from a screenplay written by Mark L. Smith, who co-wrote the adapted screenplay of Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s The Revenant. Twister proved to be a massive commercial success for Universal upon its release, sending box office expectations flying higher than a cow in a water spout by bringing in a mighty $500 million worldwide haul.
Written by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin, the film followed a divorced couple who were also partners in storm-chasing. The two are brought together when the signing of their divorce papers gets held up, but this coincides with the arrival of an extraordinary storm front, presenting them with the opportunity to pursue an unprecedented supercell EF-5 tornado in Oklahoma. Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt starred as Bill and Jo Harding, the main characters in the movie.
Recently, Collider's Steve Weintraub spoke with Smith, as he was on the promotional trail for his new film Boys in the Boat—directed by George Clooney—and Weintraub took the opportunity to quiz Smith on how the film came about, as well as debunking some rumors about certain plotlines from the film, after speculation that the movie would be incorporating characters related to the original stars. Smith also revealed the key role that Academy Award-nominated director Joseph Kosinski played in helping the sequel come to life, having originally been linked with directing the film himself.
"It's a lot of fun. It was something that Joe Kosinski and I came up with," said Smith. "Joe reached out, he had this great idea to get back into the Twister world, and so he sent me the pitch, and it was fun. We kind of beat it out and then went to Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall [the original executive producers on Twister], and then they signed off. Universal signed off. So I wrote it, and it was all set and Spielberg was ready to go, and he was excited, and it was gonna be Joe."
Why Didn't Joseph Kosinski Direct 'Twisters'?
Chung was hired to direct in December 2022, two months after Smith was signed as the writer for the project. The partnership made sense as Chung had already attached himself to another script written by Smith, with the pair already having a steady working relationship. Smith explained, "Joe Kosinski had timing with the F1 thing with Brad Pitt. So Isaac, he’d just attached to another script of mine called The Dog Stars, and I was so excited. That's the first time we'd met, and it was like a perfect marriage. I was so thrilled to have him on there, and then all of a sudden he gets offered Twisters. He meets on it, and he calls me, and he goes, 'What am I gonna do?' And it's like, 'Well, I'm trading you one project for another, so at least I can live with that.' So we did that."
Will 'Twisters' Have Any Characters from 'Twister'?
Smith continued by revealing that Chung appeared to be in his element on the big stage of a blockbuster disaster film, a far cry from the intimate feel of Minari. Chung has added his own input to the screenplay and, while Smith isn't party to every change made to the story, he did confirm that the film was its own unique story, and not a continuation of the story that saw Bill and Jo successfully survive the biggest tornado on record, as well as find a way to record the data from inside it. As Smith put it:
"It's a lot of fun. He did his own thing to the script a little bit because that's what they do, so I don't know about some of the changes exactly. So, I don’t know the details, but it's a separate story. It's not a continuation of the original. But it's just a real wild ride with some good, fun characters. Hopefully, we can tap into what the original had because that thing is just iconic. But it's so cool to have a director like Isaac taking on something like this. It's just so out of his norm, and I think he's having fun. I was texting with him a couple days ago, and it's just all craziness of it."
Weintraub pressed the point about the continuation arc of the film, inquiring as to the speculation that one of the characters would have been linked to Hunt and Paxton's couple, but Smith poured cold water on it by confirming that Twisters is "a separate thing." He added that from the days Kosinski was attached to the project, the film was seen as its own thing—perhaps down to the fact Kosinski had just finished work on another legacy sequel in the shape of Top Gun: Maverick and wanted something more standalone.
"That was something that we had talked about and as we were writing it was like, “Oh, this would be a great moment if we wanted to add another element to it.” But Joe had always kind of envisioned it as a standalone, that it wasn't connected, and probably some of that was because after Top Gun it was like, 'Okay, now let me have my original rather than just hitching on to the next.'”
Twisters
- Release Date
- July 19, 2024
- Runtime
- 117 Minutes
- Director
- Lee Isaac Chung
- Writers
- Mark L. Smith, Joseph Kosinski, Michael Crichton, Anne-Marie Martin
- Prequel(s)
- Twister
Cast
-
Daisy Edgar-Jones -
An update to the 1996 film 'Twister', which centered on a pair of storm chasers who risk their lives in an attempt to test an experimental weather alert system.
- Main Genre
- Thriller
Is Helen Hunt Involved in 'Twisters'?
When the film was announced, Hunt expressed interest in developing the film as a sequel to the original film. However, her plans were rejected by Universal and Amblin as they involved her character being killed off. Hunt claimed that her script called for a diverse team of "All Black and brown storm chasers," including Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, but that was allegedly turned down.
Another notable change to the movie from its predecessor is the way it will incorporate the theme of climate change into the narrative. Weintraub asked about the impact that thirty years of global warming would have on the size and scale of the storms that would be seen on-screen, and Smith admitted that it would be a key factor in the plot of the film. "That's one of the things that we kind of tapped, and it's true," he confirmed. "I talked to so many storm experts, tornado experts, storm chasers, and rode around with some. Even the tornado season itself, because of climate change, what used to be tornado alley going through a certain stretch. It now extends so further east, and it's moving across, and the dates are wider, and the numbers are higher, and the storms themselves are more violent. So we did use elements of that just to shine a light on it, as well, the causes and effects of climate change."
Who Is in "Twisters'?
Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Anthony Ramos are reported to be starring in the lead roles, while the cast has also been bulked out with the likes of Brandon Perea (Nope), Daryl McCormack (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande), Maura Tierney (NewsRadio), Harry Hadden-Paton (The Crown), Sasha Lane (American Honey), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Nik Dodani (Atypical), David Corenswet (Superman: Legacy), Tunde Adebimpe (Rachel Getting Married), and Katy O'Brian (The Mandalorian).
Tierney—who stated she only has a small role in the movie—also spoke with Collider recently, telling Perri Nemiroff that she was "excited" to see the film, while praising the work and the enthusiasm of Chung as director. "[Lee Isaac Chung] is perfect for almost anything," said Tierney. "Again, that's a situation where it's not like I thought the part was going to be necessarily as interesting as some other things that I've played, but I really wanted to work with him, and he's great to work with. Again, they're both similar. People who do their homework and know what they're doing are very flexible on set and have a good sense of humor so that there's a real sense of fluidity on set, and that's the really exciting directors to work with." Tierney also reiterated Smith's remarks that the film's plot would focus more on climate change, saying:
"I think the whole movie is taking more of a climate change bend, the reboot, so that'll be part of the story. It's not just random twisters, it's gonna be plugged into everything that's going on now."
Twisters will premiere in theaters on July 19, 2024. Stay tuned to Collider for our full interviews with both Smith and Tierney.
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