Following the 1996 box office hit Twister starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, director Lee Isaac Chung is coming to deliver a mixture of terror and excitement with his hotly-anticipated disaster movie follow-up Twisters. Hitting the theatres in July 2024, the upcoming movie is featuring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
Previously during his interview with Collider, writer Mark L Smith clarified that Twisters will have its own characters and will act more as a stand-alone story. However, due to its glaring similarities with the 1996 movie, fans began speculating the upcoming movie as a direct sequel. But again Glen Powell clarified the doubts during his interview with Vogue.
Glaring Similarities Between Twister (1996) and Twisters (2024)
Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton’s 1996 disaster movie Twister turned into a box office hit right after its release in theatres. Narrating the story of Hunt’s character Dr. Jo Harding and Paxton’s character Bill Harding, who were a couple on the brink of divorce, the movie showed how the duo teamed up to develop a storm alert system.
Decades later, Oscar nominee Lee Isaac Chung in association with writer Mark L Smith, came up with the hotly-anticipated disaster movie follow-up Twisters. Hitting the theatres in July 2024, the film’s trailer was recently released during the Super Bowl 58 broadcast, and captivated fans. But while the movie deals with the same disaster theme and even holds a similar name, Smith noted that it’s not a sequel.
Despite the glaring similarities between the two disaster-themed movies, the writer of the film noted that it’s going to be a standalone film. Although the film’s title sounds awfully similar, Mark L Smith claimed that nothing in the movie is going to be taken from the original hit. Well, not entirely true, for the upcoming movie is dealing with a similar theme of a disaster.
Not just that, the upcoming Twisters revolves around Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones’ characters, who are storm chasers risking their lives in an attempt to test an experimental weather alert system. Just like the first movie dealt with the characters developing a storm alert system, the upcoming film is about testing the model. Because of this very plotline, most people started speculating Twisters as a continuation of the 1996 movie.
Twisters is a Standalone Movie via Mark L Smith and Glen Powell
Clarifying people’s doubts, the upcoming movie’s writer Mark L Smith confirmed during his interview with Collider that Twisters (2024) will act more as a standalone story. The movie will have its own characters, and will also focus on a different storyline, as per Smith. Alongside Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones, Twisters will feature Anthony Ramos, Kiernan Shipka, Daryl McCormack, Brandon Perea, and more, in supporting roles.
“[Lee] did his own thing to the script a little bit because that’s what they do… I don’t know the details, but it’s a separate story. It’s not a continuation of the original. But it’s just a real wild ride with some good, fun characters.”
Further, after Mark L Smith’s December 2023 interview, even Glen Powell corroborated the same, during his 2023 interview with Vogue. Channeling his charismatic daredevil in the first look, Powell opened up about plot details that were previously kept under wraps. He informed fans during his interview that his 2024 movie is “definitely not a reboot”.
“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.”
Irrespective of the similarities between the upcoming movie and the 1996 original hit, Mark L Smith and Glen Powell constantly refused to admit Twisters is a direct sequel to Twister.
