Twenty-seven years after the release of the blockbuster disaster film Twister (watch it HERE), Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment have finally put a follow-up on the fast track to release – but they’re not calling it a sequel. Scheduled to receive a theatrical release on July 19, 2024, Twisters is being described as a “new chapter” in what is about to become a franchise… and it just rounded out its cast. Deadline reports that Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Maura Tierney (The Affair), Harry Hadden-Paton (Downton Abbey), Sasha Lane (American Honey), Nik Dodani (Atypical), Tunde Adebimpe (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Katy O’Brian (The Mandalorian), Brandon Perea (Nope), and David Corenswet (Pearl) – who may be the next Superman – have all signed on to play roles in the film.
They join previously announced cast members Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing), Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick), Anthony Ramos (In the Heights), and Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders).
Character details are being kept under wraps. We do know that Edgar-Jones is playing a former storm chaser who works a desk job after surviving a disastrous tornado encounter. However, she will be forced back out onto the field.
Minari director Lee Isaac Chung is at the helm of Twisters, working from a screenplay written by The Revenant‘s Mark L. Smith. The film is being co-financed by Warner Bros. Sara Scott and Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the project for Universal Pictures, while Ashley Jay Sandberg does the same for the Kennedy/Marshall production company.
Directed by Jan de Bont from a screenplay by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin, the first Twister told the following story: Bill and Jo Harding, advanced storm chasers on the brink of divorce, must join together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes. The film starred Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt – and a couple years ago, Hunt was developing a sequel with Blindspotting writers Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal that she wanted to direct herself. Apparently the studio wasn’t interested in her approach.
Universal had talked to Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski about a Twister remake, but Kosinski chose to work with Brad Pitt and Apple on a Formula One racing movie instead.
What do you think of the cast that has been assembled for Twisters? Are you interested in watching these actors chase – and get chased by – tornadoes? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
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