It's the wonder of nature, baby! Universal and Amblin Entertainment have announced that audiences can expect to return to the suck zone on July 19, 2024, as Twisters blows its way into theaters.
The sequel to the 1996 cult classic Twister, the film will be directed by Lee Isaac Chung, after word began to break in Hollywood late last week that the studio was closing in on a deal with the Oscar-nominated director, while Hollywood veteran Frank Marshall is also boarding the project - co-financed by Warner Bros. - as a producer. Chung is set to direct from a screenplay which has been written by Mark L. Smith, who co-wrote the adapted screenplay of Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s The Revenant. Chung's work on Minari earned him a nomination for Best Director at the 2022 Academy Awards.
The original film, Twister, was a massive commercial success for Universal, wreaking havoc at the worldwide box office and earning a stunning $500 million worldwide. The film, written by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin, featured a separated couple who had previously chased storms together, and who reunite to finalise their divorce just as a perfect storm weather front comes through to give them the chance to chase a once-in-a-lifetime super cell EF-5 tornado in Oklahoma. Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt played Bill and Jo Harding, the leads in the film.
Hunt's character leads an underfunded team of students who have built a machine, based on Paxton's character's designs, that can gather data from within tornadoes - the catch is, they have to get in front of one in order to deploy it. When Bill discovers his creation, Dorothy, is ready, he joins the team for one final go.
The film also featured a colorful ensemble cast, including the likes of Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz, Alan Ruck, Jeremy Davies and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who provided both the comic relief and the most quotable lines in the film. The film was so popular that it even spawned its own attraction at Universal's theme parks around the world. Twister: Ride It Out! was a special effects attraction that opened in 1998, where guests experienced a simulated tornado on a sound stage, while being hit with water and wind effects. Paxton and Hunt reprised their roles for the attraction.
Hunt had previously pitched her own spin for a sequel, which she revealed in 2021 - however, the studio rejected her idea due to her character being killed off in the film. However, Deadline reports that the hope is to bring Hunt back for the legacy sequel, with sources claiming the plot is set to revolve around the daughter she had with Paxton's character who has become a storm-chaser just as her parents were.
Twisters will open in theaters on July 19, 2024.