Speaking with Vogue, Top Gun: Maverick star Glen Powell opened up about Universal Pictures’ highly-anticipated Twisters, the spin-off sequel to the 1996 disaster film.
Powell confirmed that he has already wrapped up filming the project, which he described as a “completely original story.” He also revealed that none of the characters from the first installment will return in the movie.
“It’s definitely not a reboot,” Powell teased. “We’re not trying to recreate the story from the first one. It’s a completely original story. There are no characters from the original movie back, so it’s not really a continuation. It’s just its own standalone story in the modern-day.”
The Anyone But You star also shared that advice he got from Tom Cruise regarding taking on high-profile projects like Twisters. “If you want to make movies of a certain size and scope and scale, you have to figure out what can connect with everyone around the world in every territory,” he added. “And humans versus weather is a very universal idea—how powerless we really are in the face of these cataclysmic forces.”
What to expect in Twisters?
Twisters will be directed by Minari filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung from a screenplay written by Mark L. Smith. It is reportedly not being developed as a direct sequel to the 1996 film, but rather as a “new chapter” in the franchise. Daisy Edgar-Jones will take the role of “a former storm chaser who works a desk job after surviving a terrifying tornado. However, she will be forced back out onto the field.”
Joining Edgar-Jones and Powell are Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, Sasha Lane, Kiernan Shipka, Harry Hadden-Paton, Nik Dodani, Tunde Adebimpe, Katy O’Brian, and David Corenswet. Steven Spielberg is currently attached to executive produce through Amblin Entertainment. It is being produced by Frank Marshall and Pat Crowley. Universal’s Sara Scott and Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the project, along with Kennedy/Marshall’s Ashley Jay Sandberg.
Directed by Jan de Bont, the first installment followed storm chasers Bill Harding and Dr. Joanne Harding in the midst of finalizing their divorce. The pair reunites during a severe tornado outbreak in Oklahoma, where they test their weather-tracking device that would improve lead times on tornado warnings. It also starred Cary Elwes, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck, Todd Field, and more.
