After the success of Twister in 1996, Hollywood produced roughly a million vastly inferior natural disaster films. Every studio tried to capture the magic of that movie, but no one ever got it right. It’s not a surprise they all failed. Twister doesn’t just hold up, it’s a bonafide classic. But now, after all this time, there’s reason to think it might finally have a worthy successor. All it took was making an actual successor. The first trailer for Twisters has everything we’d want from a bunch of wild storm chasers, including a Glen Powell as a reckless clout-chasing cowboy hunting down tornadoes like they owe him money.
Let’s go. I’m ready to do some storm chasing myself after watching that. As a day one Twister fan who has seen the original roughly a gazillion times I am already fully onboard with this new entry in the franchise. How can I not be when it includes someone screaming, “We got twins. TWIIIINNNNSSS!!”
But the 1996 movie isn’t great just because of its tornadoes and action. It also features great characters with their own interesting stories. Twisters official synopsis reveals its filmmakers understand the importance of that element, too. From Universal Pictures:
Edgar-Jones stars as Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi (Anthony Ramos) to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better. 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.
Twisters comes from director Lee Isaac Chung (Minari). Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) wrote the script. It also stars Brandon Perea (Nope), Sasha Lane (American Honey), Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders), Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men), Nik Dodani (Atypical), and Maura Tierney (Beautiful Boy).
What Is the Release Date for Twisters?
Twisters spins into theaters July 19. If it’s anywhere near as good as the original we won’t have to wait more than 35 years for another installment.
