Fans of the megahit movie Twister will be beside themselves with excitement after it was announced that its sequel finally has a release date.
The original 1996 flick followed the story of a husband and wife meteorology duo (played by Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton) who have to put the brakes on their looming divorce to battle a series of tornadoes in Oklahoma. It has received generally favorable reviews, with a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 63%.
Slant Magazine, for example, gave it a score of two out of four and said: "When it sticks to kinetically portraying the sheer oddness of the tornadic phenomenon, Twister is a breeze. When it tries to recreate Hawks, it falls gracelessly from the green sky." While The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "While the special effects are clearly the star of this masterwork, the storyline itself, although predictable, is crisp and full of heart."
Despite the divided sentiment on the movie - which was produced by Steven Spielberg - it went on to earn $494 million at the box office worldwide, PEOPLE reported.
Evidently, Universal Pictures think an update to the movie would do well in the 21st century, announcing that a sequel - written by The Revenant's Mark L. Smith - is set to grace screens on July 19, 2024. Named Twisters, Deadline detailed that the plot was still "under wraps," but that it's likely it could focus on the daughter of Paxton and Hunt's characters.
Hunt, 59, had herself wanted to direct a sequel, telling Andy Cohen that she had written a script for the sequel but could not convince a studio to take it on. Sadly, Paxton passed away from a stroke at the age of 61 in 2017, so will not see the sequel come to fruition.
In 2021, one of the actors in the flick, Cary Elwes, spoke about his experience filming with Paxton to The Hollywood Reporter, saying: "Bill really was that guy whose energy was infectious. He reminded you that you couldn't take life seriously. That was Bill's whole ethic. He took his work seriously, but he didn't take himself very seriously."
"We arrived during a very difficult time for Oklahoma, but they couldn’t have been more friendly to us. We made it a point to pay our respects to all the victims of that terrible tragedy. It was a long shoot; a very intricate and complex shoot because it involved a lot of special effects. I had a good time working on it.It was a long shoot; a very intricate and complex shoot because it involved a lot of special effects. I had a good time working on it," the 60-year-old said of the movie.
Well, I guess we better stay tuned for a wild sequel!