Twister Movie Sequel Release Date Set for 2024

Universal has slated Twisters for a July 19, 2024, release date, putting it up against Transformers: A New Generation that day and Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts a week later.

Lee Isaac Chung is reportedly being eyed to direct Twisters, while Mark L. Smith is set to write the screenplay.

Directed by Jan de Bont, the first installment followed storm chasers Bill Harding and Dr. Joanne Harding, who are in the midst of finalizing their divorce.

The pair reunites during a severe tornado outbreak in Oklahoma, where they’re able to test their weather-tracking device that would improve lead times on tornado warnings.

The film was both a critical and commercial success, with a worldwide gross of over $495 million at the box office. It also starred Cary Elwes, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck, Todd Field, and more.

The original film, Twister, was a massive commercial success for Universal, wreaking havoc at the worldwide box office and earning almost $500 million in ticket sales worldwide. The film, written by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin, featured a separated couple who had previously chased storms together, and who reunite to finalise their divorce just as a perfect storm weather front comes through to give them the chance to chase a once-in-a-lifetime super cell EF-5 tornado in Oklahoma. Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt played Bill and Jo Harding, the leads in the film.

Hunt’s character leads an underfunded team of students who have built a machine, based on Paxton’s character’s designs, that can gather data from within tornadoes – the catch is, they have to get in front of one in order to deploy it. When Bill discovers his creation, Dorothy, is ready, he joins the team for one final go.

The film also featured a colorful ensemble cast, including the likes of Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz, Alan Ruck, Jeremy Davies and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who provided both the comic relief and the most quotable lines in the film. The film was so popular that it even spawned its own attraction at Universal’s theme parks around the world. Twister: Ride It Out! was a special effects attraction that opened in 1998, where guests experienced a simulated tornado on a sound stage, while being hit with water and wind effects. Paxton and Hunt reprised their roles for the attraction.

Hunt had previously pitched her own spin for a sequel, which she revealed in 2021 – however, the studio rejected her idea due to her character being killed off in the film. However, The hope is to bring Hunt back for the legacy sequel, with sources claiming the plot is set to revolve around the daughter she had with Paxton’s character who has become a storm-chaser just as her parents were.

Bill Paxton, who also starred as Dr. Bill “The Extreme” Harding, sadly passed away in 2017. Philip Seymour Hoffman, who had a memorable role as a fellow storm chaser in Twister, also died in 2014. At least one cast member has expressed a desire to return for the new movie, however, with Sean Whalen stating that he’d be happy to appear, but couldn’t say yet if that would be the case.

“I am so grateful to have been a part of this original movie. It has helped me travel to places I never would’ve gone to and to meet hundreds of people I never would’ve met,” Whalen said in an Instagram post. “That said, there is no need to keep asking if I am involved in the sequel. I wouldn’t know for months and if I was involved they probably wouldn’t let me tell you anyway.”

He added, “I am assuming they will pick maybe a few original people and I may or may not be one of them. Obviously, I would love to be a part of it, But it’s all good. I’m just happy to be part of the Twister original.”

Twisters will open in theaters on July 19, 2024.