Twisters Trailer Doubles Down on the Ludicrous Premise of the Original

Hollywood is always chasing a perfect storm. In the ‘90s, Twister was one such mega-hit: a patently wild premise with blockbuster ambitions that managed to earn almost $500 million, becoming the 10th highest-grossing film ever upon its 1996 release. Twenty-eight years later, how could Hollywood replicate that success? By doubling down on it, of course!

Twisters is the not-a-sequel, not-quite-a-reboot of Jan de Bont’s Twister, a movie that starred Helen Hunt as a meteorologist who vows vengeance on the tornado that murdered her parents (not really, but it’s more fun when you watch it that way). Lee Isaac Chung, the Oscar-nominated writer-director of Minari, takes the reins of Twisters, which introduces Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People) as another storm chaser haunted by another tragic encounter with a tornado. But this time... there are two tornados, hence the extremely clever title. Today’s de facto Smug Guy, Glen Powell, plays her rival storm chaser, who pushes her and her team to their limit.

Here’s the official trailer for Twisters.

De Bont was notably not consulted for Twisters, telling Inverse that his original is “a movie that cannot be remade.” Based on the trailer, Twisters looks like a remake in everything but name, introducing a very similar story of two opposing storm chasers, one with a tragic tornado-related past. Now, however, the stakes have been upped: the tech is even more state-of-the-art, and the tornados are even more devastating. Maybe, just maybe, Hollywood can replicate the success of Twister by delivering even bigger and grittier blockbuster thrills. And if not, at least it should look neat.

Here’s the official synopsis for Twisters:

Edgar-Jones stars as Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi (Golden Globe nominee Anthony Ramos, In the Heights) to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better. As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.

Twisters opens in theaters July 19.