“Twisters,” starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones, has become the number one movie in the US, after grossing $80 million during its opening weekend. The film is a legacy sequel from the 1996’s “Twister,” and many people wonder what is the inspiration behind the new chapter.
The film is directed by Lee Isaac Chung, who is best known for his autobiographical drama “Minari,” which was nominated for six Academy Awards in 2021. The director grew up in Arkansas, and he is very familiar with tornadoes.
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“He understands this world. He understands this community. As we were making it, he wasn’t making it from an outsider’s perspective on what he thought this world is. It’s such an inspired choice,” Powell told IndieWire on July 16. However, does this mean that the story is based on real life? Here’s what to know.
Is ‘Twisters’ based on a real life story?
No, “Twisters” is not based on a real life story. The script was written by Joseph Kosinski, who was also behind “Top Gun: Maverick,” and Mark L. Smith. It’s an original story inspired by the first film, which many nods to the original movie.
While the story isn’t based on real life, it doesn’t mean there’s no connection with actual events, such as climate change (despite the fact that “climate change” isn’t mentioned in the film, it’s hinted).
To Chung, it was “incredibly important” to take that into account, as he told IndieWire. “I was often talking to the crew about how we don’t know what the world will be like when we’re actually releasing this movie.”
The director also said that he “wanted to make sure that we are being sober and real about what tornadoes do, particularly to the people who are living through them,” while also having a “balance” in the film.
In “Twisters,” Edgar-Jones plays Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser who, after an almost deadly encounter with a tornado, now studies storm patterns in New York City. After being persuaded by her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos), she returns to the field in Oklahoma to test a new tracking system. There, she will meet and clash with Tyler Owens (Powell), a reckless storm chaser.
Chung also explained that they filmed the movie during the actual storm season, and they suffered the consequences of it. “It always felt like life was imitating art. Sometimes I would wonder if this was just the nature of making a tornado movie, because it felt so chaotic. Lots of things were unpredictable and wild and would come out of nowhere. The weather was certainly one of those things,” he told the outlet.
Glen Powell has been close to tornadoes in real life
Again, while “Twisters” isn’t inspired by a real life tale, Powell has revealed that he has had some real experience with tornadoes when he was a kid. “When I was nine years old, there was a big F5 tornado that came through Jarrell, Texas,” the Hit Man actor revealed during his appearance in Late Night With Seth Meyers.
Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones (IMDb)
“So we were on my way to my aunt’s ranch, and I was caught… pretty close to the tornado with my aunt driving, a car full of cousins,” he explained. “We made it out. We were totally fine. But actually, there’s a bit in a rodeo scene that ends up making it in [Twisters], where I kind of talk about that event,” Powell added.
When the Late Night Host asked Powell whether he was scared or thrilled by the tornado experience, he answered: “I think that’s literally what we were kind of talking about, is you’re first kind of fascinated. And then when you see an adult scared, you kind of are like, ‘Oh, maybe I should be scared,’” he responded.
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However, to the actor “that’s kind of the beauty of Twisters, it’s kind of a mix of fascination of this beauty, but also terror.” And it seems to be working. The film has received mostly positive reviews, though there has been some criticism of the story and the VFX. Despite this, audiences have still shown up to the theaters.
