Today it feels like every blockbuster movie is based on a comic book or some other previously existing IP, to the point that it seems almost quaint that once upon a time one of the most successful movies ever made was an original concept about people chasing a tornado. Twister was so successful that it’s shocking no sequel happened in the short term, but there is now a plan to dust off Twister for some sort of legacy sequel. The director is not at all surprised.
Last December it was confirmed that Twisters, a sequel to the second-highest-grossing domestic movie of 1996, was in development, and eyeing a summer 2024 release date. While Twisters details are slim, the movie is just the latest in a series of sequels that have come decades after their successful predecessor. Jan de Bont, who directed the original Twister tells Inverse that once he saw that trend taking shape, he knew Twister would get the treatment eventually, considering just how successful the first movie was. He explained…
It made so much money for the studio. Sooner or later they would do it.
Twister made nearly $500 million at the global box office in 1996, which, at the time, made it the 10th highest-grossing movie ever. Numbers like that would all but certainly lead to a sequel today. We’re waiting for announcements regarding a Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel or a Barbie 2 right now due to those films hitting comparable numbers. It seems all but certain they will happen.
And while there have been attempts over the years to get a Twister 2 the greenlight, it’s never happened. Helen Hunt and Daveed Diggs were previously involved in one concept, but it ended up not going anywhere. The new film will be directed by Minari’s Lee Isaac Chung and written by Mark L. Smith. Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar Jones, and Anthony Ramos are currently attached to star.
While Twisters might be a spiritual successor to Twister, and may even end up having direct connections to the original through the plot, Jan de Bont thinks the sequel will likely come up lacking in at least one key way, as odds are that the new movie will rely on digital effects to a much greater degree. While Twister did use a lot of early CGI, it also used a lot of practical effects. He continued…
When things fell from the sky, there were real things falling from a helicopter. If you film a car escaping a tornado in a hail storm, it was real ice that came at us. It’s a movie that cannot be remade… That would never, ever happen again.
The way the movie is made may change, but it looks like Twisters will actually happen. Some legacy sequels, like Top Gun: Maverick have been incredibly successful, but others have not faired nearly as well. We’ll find out if the Twister audience is still there next summer.
