Original Twister Director Weighs in on Reboot Plans

The Jan de Bont-directed Twister is one of the defining action films of the ’90s, as it hit theaters at a time when computer effects were making previously impossible concepts a reality and storm-chasing was an emerging trend, thanks in large part to the internet allowing individuals to orchestrate their efforts. Earlier this year, talks emerged that a reboot of the film was being developed by TRON: Legacy and Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski, though de Bont wonders how a new film could potentially escalate on what was seen in the debut installment, given the intensity of the destruction depicted in that film.

“I read that like a month or two ago. I said, ‘Wow. Are they going to do the F5 now? I bet you that’s what it is,’” de Bont shared with Collider about the project. “You cannot do it by making it bigger. That as a movie hardly ever works. You have to come up … with people actually involved in it. You cannot just … it’s like, I’ll work on the destruction scene. We’re going to get worse and whole cities are going to get destroyed. That’s exactly like falling in the trap of having the special effects completely take over.”

It’s hard to argue with the filmmaker, as a key component of the original film wasn’t just the epic destruction it depicted, as the connections between the characters was just as engaging as any weather-induced mayhem.

The original film saw Bill (Bill Paxton) reuniting with his old team of storm chasers to ensure that his wife Jo (Helen Hunt) signed their divorce papers so he could move on with his new relationship. The timing of these efforts lined up with the debut of a high-tech device they’d spent years working on together, with Bill reuniting with his team to see his creation unveiled, resulting in a number of action-packed sequences of tornados causing chaos in Oklahoma.

Throughout the film, the severity of the tornados increases, which culminate in Bill and Jo being caught inside the dreaded “F5” after successfully launching their device.

Despite de Bont’s doubts about the new film, between Kosinksi’s efforts on Legacy and early reactions to Maverick, he might be the perfect person to revive a dormant concept and reinvent it in exciting ways.

Stay tuned for details on the Twister reboot.

What do you think of de Bont’s remarks? Let us know in the comments below!