Twisters Adds Nope Breakout Brandon Perea

The highly-anticipated sequel to Twister is nearly set to start rolling cameras as it continues to flesh out its ensemble. Most recently, the Lee Isaac Chung picture added Brandon Perea, the actor that recently celebrated his breakout role in Jordan Peele’s Nope. Prior to that, Perea starred in Netflix’s The OA. First reported by Variety, exact role details are unavailable though it’s said Perea will star opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, and Anthony Ramos.

The film, aptly-titled Twisters, is set to be a “new chapter” to the initial disaster film first released in 1996. It’s unclear as of now if original Twister star Helen Hunt will be back to to reprise her role of Dr. Jo Harding.

Talk of a sequel has taken place since the first film was released, but a direct follow-up never came to fruition. When asked about the possibility of returning for a sequel, Twister helmer Jan de Bont seemed to throw cold water on the notion.

“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 said during a recent interview. “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.”

Minari‘s Lee Isaac Chung will direct Twisters which features a script by The Revenant‘s Mark L. Smith. Frank Marshall, known for the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World franchises, is producing via his banner, the Kennedy/Marshall Company. Production on Twisters is expected to begin this year with a July 19, 2024 release date previously announced by Universal Pictures.