“Twisters” swept the box office this weekend, grossing an estimated $80.5 million in domestic ticket sales in its opening weekend, according to preliminary estimates from market research firm Comscore.
Lee Isaac Chung’s standalone sequel to the beloved 1996 film — this time starring Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos — landed in first place over the weekend, easily surpassing initial industry tracking figures of roughly $50 million for the film’s first outing. It marks the biggest domestic opening ever for a natural disaster movie, surpassing “The Day After Tomorrow” ($68.44 million in 2004). “Twisters” is the third-biggest opening weekend of 2024 domestically behind “Inside Out 2” ($154.2 million) and “Dune: Part 2” ($82.5 million), and just ahead of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ($80 million).
In what promises to be a summer blockbuster, Edgar-Jones stars in “Twisters” as a storm chaser who had a terrifying encounter with a tornado years ago. She seeks refuge by working as a scientist in New York City, but her friend, played by Ramos, lures her back to Oklahoma to help test a new tracking system. They cross paths with a thrill-seeking social media influencer, played by Powell, who thrives by posting his dangerous storm-chasing exploits on the internet. True to the original, Powell and Edgar-Jones’ characters experience romantic energy.
The action-adventure is expected to have a long tail, giving further momentum to Donna Langley's Universal Pictures, which spent more than $155 million to make the special effects-heavy film.
Disaster movies rarely come around again, and the ones that do tend to be disappointments. But the strong performance of “Twisters” left that notion of the industry in a pile of rubble.
The weekend's roughly $80 million haul is nearly double the opening haul of the original, “Twister,” starring the late Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt. Directed by Jan de Bont, the first film grossed $500 million in worldwide ticket sales and became a fan favorite that airs in syndication on movie channels.
Chung’s remake received strong reviews and audience ratings, helping it become a hit at a troubled time for theaters still trying to recover from the damage caused by COVID-19 shutdowns and strikes by actors and writers last year, which delayed the release of several blockbuster films.
Universal also took second place for the weekend, with “Despicable Me 4” earning $28 million in sales. That film has generated $259 million at the domestic box office since its release earlier this month. Disney’s “Inside Out 2” continues to perform well, grossing $12.8 million this weekend, bringing its domestic haul to nearly $600 million.
For “Twisters,” Universal has domestic distribution, Warner Bros. has international sales.
Director Lee Isaac Chung, the filmmaker behind “Twisters.”
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Director Chung grew up in rural Arkansas, where tornadoes are a fact of life.
He and his crew filmed this summer's top-grossing movie in Oklahoma's Tornado Alley during the height of tornado season, which brought with it logistical challenges and frequent weather delays. The crew also had to deal with the Hollywood writers' and actors' strike, which halted production 17 days before it was set to end.
“It was a very high-pressure shoot,” Chung told The Times. “It ended up being so exhausting and draining that I now dismiss the idea that any particular film is going to be a fun shoot just because it deals with a certain subject.”
Staff writers Josh Rottenberg and Ryan Faughnder contributed to this report.
