New ‘Twister’ Movie Gets Release Date

The forecast is in. Twisters are coming to Hollywood. The long-awaited sequel to the hit 1996 film Twister now has a release date. The film will be directed by Lee Isaac Chung, who earned Best Director and Best Original Screenplay Oscar nominations for his critically acclaimed 2020 film Minari.

Twisters will open on July 19, 2024, Univeral Pictures and Amblin Entertainment announced Tuesday, reports The Hollywood Reporter. The news comes just one week after reports surfaced that Chung was in talks with the studios to direct. Frank Marshall, whose wife Kathleen Kennedy co-produced the 1996 film, will produce Twisters with Warner Bros. co-financing the movie.

Chung will direct with a script by Mark L. Smith, who is best known for working with Alejandro G. Inarritu on The Revenant. Universal executive VP of production Sara Scott and creative executive Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the production for the studio. Ashley Jay Sandberg is overseeing for The Kennedy/Marshall Company.

The perfect weather system for Twisters began developing in October when Deadline reported that Universal and Amblin were on a search to find a director. Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) was prepared to direct, but he left to make a Formula One racing movie with Brad Pitt for Apple. Deadline also reported that Steven Spielberg “flipped” over after reading Smith’s script.

Twister became a cultural phenomenon when it hit theaters in May 1996. The movie, written by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin, stars Helen Hunt and the late Bill Paxton as storm chasers who reunite to follow a “storm of the century” sweeping through Oklahoma. It is packed with great supporting performances from Cary Elwes, Alan Ruck, Lois Smith, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeremy Davies, and Todd Field. Jan de Bont (Speed) directed the movie, which is available to stream on Hulu.

Twister earned critical acclaim for its visual effects, which received an Oscar nomination. The movie also picked up a not for Best Sound. The movie inspired the Universal Studios Florida attraction Twister…Ride it Out, which featured Paxton and Hunt. The ride closed in 2015 to make room for Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon.

It’s unclear if Hunt will return for the new movie. She recently starred in the Starz series Blindspotting. In 2019, she returned to the role of Jamie Buchman in the Mad About You revival. Hunt has an Oscar for her performance in As Good as it Gets and earned a nomination for her supporting role in The Sessions.