‘Twisters’ May Become Biggest Disaster Film Opening Ever

 

Glen Powell, Lee Isaac Chung, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos at the "Twisters" premiere

“Twisters,” a Lee Isaac Chung-directed sequel to the ’90s classic “Twister,” starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones, is expected to gross $74.6 million in the U.S. in its first few days, the most ever for a disaster film.

KEY FACTS

Tracking services expected “Twisters” to gross between $40 and $50 million in its opening weekend, but according to Box Office Report, it grossed more than $30 million on Friday alone and is expected to see a $74.6 million domestic opening weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

That would make it the largest opening weekend ever for a disaster movie in unadjusted dollars (the record is $68.4 million for Roland Emmerich’s The Day After Tomorrow in 2004).

Those numbers will be welcome news for Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, who spent over $155 million on the film, and that’s before the cost of marketing.

The strong opening builds on what is shaping up to become a comeback summer for the film industry, after Q2 box office revenues were down over 25% compared to 2023, according to Box Office Mojo.

The film stars Glen Powell–who has been hailed as Hollywood’s man of the moment–alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos.

The original “Twister,” released in 1996 and starring Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt, was also a big hit at the box office, with a $41 million ($82 million today) opening weekend and around $500 million ($1 billion today) in total ticket sales.

BIG NUMBER

$307 million. That’s how much this weekend’s films would have to gross to outdo the same weekend last year, which saw the much-hyped “Barbenheimer” release event. Warner Bros. and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” enjoyed a $162 million opening weekend, while Universal and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” added $82 million of its own, according to Box Office Mojo.

KEY BACKGROUND

“Twisters” is director Lee Isaac Chung’s first major release since his 2020 breakthrough “Minari,” which was nominated for six Academy Awards. That film, a semi-autobiographical take on Chung’s upbringing, told the story of a South Korean immigrant family in Arkansas. He’s moved on to different subject matter with “Twisters” but hasn’t strayed far geographically. He told NPR that his roots in northwest Arkansas–part of tornado alley–drew him to the original “Twister.” He shot the sequel just across the border in Oklahoma.