TWISTER LANDS NEW STREAMING HOME AHEAD OF SEQUEL'S RELEASE
Before Twisters spins into theaters later this month, fans can see where the upcoming disaster film got its inspiration. The original Twister returns to streaming as anticipation for its follow-up builds.
Twister is now available on HBO's streaming service, Max, officially premiering via the platform on Jul. 1. The original film starred Helen Hunt (Dr. Jo Thornton-Harding) and the late Bill Paxton (Bill Harding), chronicling two divorced storm chasers trying to deploy a tornado research device during a severe storm outbreak in Oklahoma. According to the official synopsis, "Now a storm chaser, a scientist who risks her life to study the dark side of nature by taking her data-transmitting instruments directly into the path of a deadly storm, Jo chases the largest tornado to ever strike Oklahoma as her marriage implodes and rival scientists will stop at nothing to steal her breakthrough."
Twisters Tracking to Blow Away Box Office Competition
Universal's standalone sequel to its 1996 classic Twister is looking to blow away the competition during its opening weekend at the box office.
The original Twister was a critically acclaimed blockbuster, with Jan De Bont's movie earning $496 million at the global box office and two Academy Award nominations. De Bont has long expressed his belief that Twister couldn't be remade and recently suggested Twisters is coming out 15 years too late, sharing concerns about the sequel's approach and CGI usage.
Twisters is set to premiere 28 years after the original movie, though the film will be a standalone sequel rather than having any carryover from Twister. Glen Powell, who stars as storm-chasing social media star Tyler Owens in Twisters, insists the movie isn't a reboot, telling Vogue last December, "We’re not trying to recreate the story from the first one. It’s a completely original story," while confirming no original characters would feature.
Twisters Star Reveals How the Film Honors the 1996 Original
Twisters star Glen Powell explains how the film captures the spirit of the 1996 film, which at its core was a story about second chances.
De Bont also suggested Twisters would work better as a direct continuation than a standalone story, telling Comicbook.com, "I think my movie would be really hard to remake, and why would you want to remake it anyway? What would you improve? Sometimes you have to also let things alone, or you have to really make it a real sequel, like a real continuing story, and not just a completely different story, but I don't know. I'm curious what he made of it."
Twisters Will Follow a New Cast of Characters
The Twisters sequel chronicles Owens and Daisy Edgar-Jones' meteorologist character, Kate Carter, who battle multiple converging systems rippling throughout Oklahoma while Carter deals with a haunting past encounter with a tornado. The follow-up also stars Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' Anthony Ramos as Javi, Kate's friend and storm-chasing partner. Despite being an original film, Powell revealed how Twisters and Twister's stories are spiritually connected considering their premises.
Twisters looks set for a solid opening weekend in theaters, hoping for a substantial profit against its $200 million budget. The film will seemingly have a more mature tone than Twister based on its official rating.
Twisters opens in theaters on Jul. 19.
Source: Max
Twister
Summary
Twister is a 1996 film from director Jan de Bont, starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, that centers around storm chasers trying to learn how to predict Tornadoes to help communities susceptible to the phenomena. Twenty-seven years after a powerful F5 Tornado claimed her father's life, Joanne "Jo" Harding (Helen Hunt) has become a meteorologist/storm chaser with a group of fellow chasers seeking the thrill of the danger. Her husband, William Harding (Bill Paxton) shows up seeking a divorce and comes to serve her papers to end the relationship with her while introducing his new fiance. But when a series of new storms emerge, Jo rushes off to chase them with her new device capable of predicting storms better than before. William chases after her to get her to sign the papers - but finds himself brought back into the dangerous world of storm chasing. A sequel is coming in the future, titled Twisters for which no release window has been given.