This image released by Universal Pictures shows Sasha Lane, left, and Glen Powell in a scene from “Twisters.” (Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures via AP)
“Twisters”—the standalone sequel to the 1996 movie—made $80.5 million in ticket sales from 4,151 theaters in North America, according to studio estimates.
That’s about $30 million more than analysts expected initially, and makes for the biggest opening of a live-action movie yet this summer.
This film, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, does not include any of the characters from the original and introduces a new crowd of storm chasers.
Lee Isaac Chung, director of the “Twisters,” discusses the film during the Universal Pictures and Focus Features presentation at CinemaCon 2024, on April 10 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Chung grew up in the Midwest developed both a healthy fear of tornadoes and a reverence for the 1996 “Twister.” He saw the movie in the theater with his family when he was a teenager.
“I remember thinking, ‘I didn’t know you could chase after these things,’” Chung said. “That, to me, was very mind-blowing.”
These were forces of nature he and his schoolmates in rural Arkansas, near the Oklahoma border, were being taught how to safely hide from.
When he was hired to direct “Twisters,” he knew one thing was non-negotiable: They needed to shoot in Oklahoma, not on soundstages.
“I told everyone this is something that we have to do. We can’t just have blue screens,” Chung said. “We’ve got to be out there on the roads with our pickup trucks and in the green environments where this story actually takes place.”
Chung also filmed “Minari” in Oklahoma, his autobiographical family film that got six Oscar nominations, including best picture and director.
The first place he went to location scout for “Twisters” was a farmhouse. The owner came out and greeted Chung with a hug and the tidbit that he was actually an extra in “Minari.”
“I felt like I was coming back home. It was a confirmation that we made the right call,” Chung said. “‘Minari’ and ‘Twisters,’ even though they’re very different, I kind of think of them as my Oklahoma movies.
