Nearly thirty years after “Twister” touched down in theaters, a sequel in the works is brewing: “Twisters” to be directed by Lee Isaac Chung. But it won’t be a continuation of the original story line, and it will incorporate new data about the impact of climate change on the development of tornados.
In a recent interview with Collider, screenwriter Mark L. Smith was quoted as saying: “It’s a lot of fun. [Chung] 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.”
As Smith continued, “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…”
In the original 1996 movie, “Twister” followed a team of storm chasers led by a couple on the brink of divorce who were dealing with storms outside of their own tempestuous relationship. Written by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin, “Twister” was directed by Jan de Bont, with a cast that included Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, Alan Rock, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jami Gertz, Cary Elwes, and Jeremy Davies. The upcoming “Twisters” will star Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, Sasha Lane, Kiernan Shipka, and David Corenswet.
In his Collider interview, Smith spoke of the genesis of the new film, emphasizing that “Twisters” was from the start envisioned as a standalone production.
“It was something that Joe Kosinski and I came up with,” the screenwriter said. “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 of the 1996 film], 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.”
“But Joe had always kind of envisioned it as a standalone, that it wasn’t connected,” Smith added. “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” will unleash its fury on July 19, 2024.
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