“If you feel it… chase it!” Glen Powell’s cocky and self-proclaimed “Tornado Wrangler,” aka Tyler Owens, seems to wear his emotions on his sleeve, rather than being something more enigmatic. But one thing director Lee Isaac Chung’s new film Twisters never had any intention of chasing was that of being either a sequel or a reboot to the 1996 movie Twister, which starred the late Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt. Rather, Chung refers to his cinematic offering as being akin to a “new science experiment.” Chung said while appearing on the Inside Total Film podcast, courtesy of GamesRadar+:
“I studied science in university, so this is probably a nerdy answer.
I see it as a new science experiment.
[It is in the] same world.
We don’t have the same characters, but it’s a new experiment.
There are a lot of nods to the original. But I hope I’ve made it its own thing as well.
That’s what I found invigorating about making this movie – the chance to do something new with that first story that I really loved, to do a new chapter, if you will.”
Much has also been made about Powell’s Top Gun: Maverick co-star, Tom Cruise, showing up in support of his friend and colleague’s latest movie at the London premiere of Twisters. And while the pair didn’t do any running — as Cruise loves to do in his films — up and down the red carpet, they did take some pictures together. Meanwhile, Chung was surprised to discover Cruise was there at all. The director continued during the same sit-down:
“I didn’t know he was going to be there [laughs].
He was very kind.
He said hello before the film,
and I was able to say hi to him.
I could just see how much affection he had for Glen in that moment,
when we were all backstage.
It seems like there’s a real, genuine, deep friendship there. So that was really beautiful to see.”
Twisters Was Never Intended to Focus on OG Characters
Twisters’ Rotten Tomatoes score already distinguished itself by storming out to a much better rating than the 1996 film ever registered. And as director Lee Isaac Chung revealed during his Inside Total Film podcast appearance, there was never any intention of focusing on the OG characters from the original movie. Chung spoke about pursuing the direction of a brand-new story and characters in the same interview:
“That decision was kind of made before I got on board.
The studios and everybody involved really wanted to run with this script that Joe Kosinski and Mark L. Smith
– Mark L. Smith being the primary writer –
had developed.
I think they liked this idea of a direction where it’s a whole new story.”
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Chung continued:
“So, I kind of came into it during that process,
and I’ve kind of generally hoped to share it with the past cast, if they’re interested, and also [Twister director] Jan de Bont,
who I haven’t been able to chat with.
I hope that we’ve honored the work that they’ve done.”
Be sure to check out MovieWeb’s Twisters review, which declares, “This immersive blockbuster makes its mark.” Glen Powell’s “Tornado Wrangler” Tyler Owens faces off against the unpredictable Twisters when the film opens in theaters on July 19.
At the time of this writing,
Twisters
boasts a Tomatometer rating of 81%, while the 1996 film’s Rotten Tomatoes score is 65%.