Everything you need to know about Twisters

In May 1996, audiences experienced the wild lives of storm chasers in Jan de Bont’s Twister. The epic disaster film starring Helen Hunt and the late Bill Paxton was a thrilling adventure that became 1996’s second-highest-grossing film. Now, 28 years later, another dangerous storm is brewing in the standalone sequel Twisters.

As a tentpole blockbuster, Twisters is looking to recapture the visceral joys of Twister while depicting a new, original story. Headlined by an emerging cast of budding stars, Twisters could become one of the summer’s biggest movies. Here is everything you need to know about Twisters.

Is there a release date for Twisters?

Twisters arrives in theaters on July 19, 2024. Looking at the summer movie calendar, Twisters is the biggest release of that weekend. It comes one week after Fly Me to the Moon (July 12) and one week before Deadpool & Wolverine (July 26).

Who is in the Twisters cast?

Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser who now studies tornado patterns from far away. Anthony Ramos plays Javi, Kate’s friend who also researches tornadoes, while Glen Powell stars as Tyler Owens, a hotshot storm chaser who is in the business for social media clout.

The Twisters ensemble includes Brandon Perea, Sasha Lane, Kiernan Shipka, David Corenswet, Nik Dodani, Daryl McCormack, and Maura Tierney.

No characters from Twister, including Helen Hunt’s Jo Harding, have been advertised to return in Twisters.

What are the plot details of Twisters?

After surviving a catastrophic storm as a college student, Kate Cooper (Jones) left the frontlines of storm-chasing to examine their patterns behind a desk in New York City. Recruited by her friend, Javi (Ramos), Kate returns to Tornado Alley to experiment with a revolutionary tracking system. Upon arriving in the Great Plains, Kate meets Tyler Owens (Powell), a social media maverick and attention-seeking personality who is reckless while pursuing natural disasters.

“As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler, and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives,” Universal’s logline reads.

Is there a trailer for Twisters?

TWISTERS | Official Trailer

The first Twisters trailer premiered during the 2024 Super Bowl and featured riveting footage of Kate’s team in the middle of a deadly storm. Tyler’s cockiness is on full display as he encourages a crowd of people to chant his catchphrase, “If you feel it, chase it.” The final moments of the trailer show Kate, Tyler, and Javi fighting to stay alive as a storm devastates their location.

On May 8, Universal released the second trailer for Twisters, which provided more context for Edgar-Jones’s Kate Cooper. After a terrifying experience with a tornado, Kate gave up being a storm chaser. After a “once-in-a-generation tornado outbreak” hits Oklahoma, Kate agrees to help Javi analyze tornadoes in the field for one week.

In Oklahoma, Kate meets the bold Tyler Owens and his crew of daredevil tornado chasers. Tyler gives Kate another chance to “disrupt a tornado.” The chaotic footage teases two tornadoes combining into one giant twister, one that will have a deadly impact on those who come into its path.

Who wrote and directed Twisters?

Twisters is directed by Lee Isaac Chung, the Academy Award-nominated writer and director behind 2021’s Minari. Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) wrote the script based on a story by Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski. Twisters’ producers include Frank Marshall (Jurassic World, Raiders of the Lost Ark) and Patrick Crowley (The Bourne Identity).

How is Twisters related to Twister?

Twisters is considered a standalone sequel to 1996’s Twisters. This means Twisters is set in the same universe as Twister. However, the 2024 film is not a direct sequel to the 1996 film. In a December 2023 interview with Vogue, Powell set the record straight about how Twisters features a new story and will not be a continuation of the first film.

“It’s definitely not a reboot,” Powell said. “We’re not trying to recreate the story from the first one. It’s a completely original story. There are no characters from the original movie back, so it’s not really a continuation. It’s just its own standalone story in the modern day.”

Twisters footage impressed CinemaCon crowds

Twisters was one of the movies to participate in CinemaCon 2024. Edgar-Jones, Powell, and Ramos were there to promote the film. According to Variety’s coverage, the chemistry between Edgar-Jones and Powell was “palpable,” with the crowd loving Powell as the “cocky tornado wrangler.” The stars also revealed some of the intense shooting conditions they faced, including 120-degree heat and strong winds from a jet engine.

Glen Powell teases “one of the most incredible action sequences of all time”

Judging from the trailer, Twisters promises to be an edge-of-your-seat action-adventure ride. Powell went one step further by describing a one-take shot that will blow the audience’s mind.

“I would say there’s a sequence in the movie that I think is going to be one of the most incredible action sequences of all time,” Powell revealed in an interview with Fandango’s Big Ticket. “We shot that in December, with a rain machine. One of the coldest nights I’ve ever experienced, getting dragged across a pool by a wire. I think it was the most physical thing that I’ve ever done.”

Filming took place during tornado season

Twisters took practicality to a new level. Chung opted to film Twisters during the real tornado season in Oklahoma, meaning the cast and crew were at the mercy of Mother Nature.

“It was tough,” Chung told Empire Magazine. “The unpredictability of the weather caused a lot of issues and delays. It was my choice to do this in tornado season, but honestly, I still can’t believe we actually did it.”

Speaking of weather, Chung knew the film had to emphasize the power of the weather. This meant Chung pushed his cast to their absolute limits to capture what it would be like to face a real tornado.

“This is an elemental story, so I wanted us to go as practical as possible,” Chung added. “We really tore things up. We had jet engines blowing. We had fans so massive you’d lose your hearing without earplugs. We were pelting our cast with everything – dirt, wind, ice.”

Twisters had real storm chasers on set

Twisters | A Look Inside

Because Twisters was filmed in Oklahoma, the cast and crew met storm chasers who do this for a living. Several storm chasers worked as extras in the cast or helped out  the crew. By filming in Oklahoma, Twisters feels like an authentic representation of Tornado Alley. In a featurette released by Universal, the cast spoke about their experience working alongside real-life storm chasers.

“We are in the mecca for tornadoes,” Powell said. “So to have crew members literally leave set and go to storm chase is a real unique thing.”

How much will Twisters make at the box office?

With a mid-July release, Universal Pictures is looking for Twisters to be a summer hit at the box office. According to The National Research Group (via THR), Twisters is tracking to open to $55 million domestically in its opening weekend.

Universal’s projection is more conservative at $40 million to $45 million, while The Quorum believes Twisters could open to over $60 million. With a rumored budget of $200 million, a $55 million opening is a decent start for a summer blockbuster.