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Is "Twisters" scientifically accurate? The answer is not, as a cynical reader might assume, an instant no. Jan De Bont's original "Twister" in 1996 has a lot to answer for, but its 2024 follow-up has a little bit more on its mind; its creatives were more careful.

There is some nuance to real-life storm science that "Twisters" directly taps into. "Twisters," for those who missed Lee Isaac Chung's 2024 blockbuster, centers on Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a former storm-chaser. In the film's prologue, Kate loses several of her closest peers to a tornado while doing some dangerous research, hoping to use specialized chemicals to cause the storm to instantly dissipate. (The experiment is not successful.) Years after the tragedy, Kate has settled into a world of safe, indoor meteorology. She now works for the Noaa, but is afraid to venture outdoors underneath stormy skies.

Kate is then pulled back into storm-chasing by...

A movie is, if you'll bear with me, not dissimilar from a twister: It typically isn't just made up of one thing. A film can contain a multitude of disparate genres, themes, tones, and elements inside of itself. This shouldn't be surprising, given that cinema is, at its core, a reflection of the human experience, and human beings are fascinatingly diverse creatures.

The business part of show business tends to forget that last point often, if only because films are easier to sell when reduced to a single aspect -- and, frankly, so are people. Ultimately, typecasting does artists a disservice, as it did when director Lee Isaac Chung was announced to helm the follow-up to Jan de Bont's 1996 "Twister," cheekily titled "Twisters." While Chung's attachment to the sequel seemed like another instance of an indie filmmaker leaving personal projects behind to make a blockbuster, such typecasting implies...

Lagrangian mechanics! The Fujiwara effect! Who among us isn't titillated by such subjects? It's rare, however, that poindextrous, meteorologically-inclined audiences can find these matters addressed in big-budget Hollywood flicks. Thankfully, director Lee Isaac Chung (Minari) has broken the mold with Twisters, a film of cloud-spotting, storm-watching, and forces as elemental as two folks digging each other. With a script by Mark L. Smith, as sweet and airily light as cirrus-like cotton candy, this is the only film of the season to feel distinctly like a "summer" picture -- for better and worse. The moviegoing audience is lucky to be presented with some good old-fashioned, frill-free fun.

Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People) leads Twisters as Kate Cooper, a meteorologist and budding PhD student who has foreswore her discipline as a storm-chaser after a tornado claimed the lives of two friends and a boyfriend five years ago. Fair enough. Now, working in New York City,...

Jan de Bont’s Twister remains one of the most beloved blockbusters of the 1990s, at least for the millennials who grew up with it. That’s chiefly due to its still-awesome special effects, fashioned at a time when filmmakers were delighting in experimenting with the newfound possibilities of CGI. Each storm was meticulously crafted and impressively tactile, making good on the film’s tagline, “It’ll blow you away.” So why, in an even more advanced cinematic landscape where any phenomenon can be easily created with the click of a computer mouse, does Lee Isaac Chung’s long-gap sequel, Twisters, barely kick up dust?

Twisters lacks any real explicit narrative connection to the original beyond featuring the storm-tracking device nicknamed Dorothy. Our protagonists are approximations of Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton’s characters from Twister, modified just slightly to give off a hint of variation. Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones...

It’s been over 25 years since Jan de Bont’s blockbuster Twister thrillingly brought tornado storms to life on the big screen. Starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton as storm chasers seeking to unravel the mysteries of these mighty whirlwinds, the 1996 hit thrilled audiences with visceral visuals showcasing Mother Nature at her most destructive. Now director Lee Isaac Chung offers a fresh perspective with Twisters, updating the fun format for a new generation.

Set in modern-day Tornado Alley, Twisters sees Kate Cooper, played by Normal People star Daisy Edgar-Jones, return to the storm, chasing five years after a twister tragedy. She joins forces with a team deploying high-tech radar to unravel the secrets within these swirling giants.

Competing for attention are thrill-seekers like YouTube star Tyler Owens, brought to charming life by Glen Powell. Guiding the adventure is Chung, whose intimate family drama Minari proved he knows how to root spectacle in real human experiences.

The breakout star of Love Lies Bleeding, Katy O’Brian, is also seeing her fair share of franchise roles. Prior to her latest A24 movie, O’Brian has played parts in projects for Disney like The Mandalorian and Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. She will also be seen in the upcoming Twisters, where she says, “We filmed a tornado movie during tornado season in Tornado Alley.” She would reveal that her character is “a little sillier” than she has been used to, but she won’t go as far as to call it a comic relief role. “I don’t want to say comedic role, and then everyone’s like, ‘She wasn’t funny.’ We’ll say it’s silly and fun.”

Now, according to Deadline, O’Brian is joining the cast of Mission: Impossible 8 as filming continues underway for the Tom Cruise action film. Details surrounding the upcoming...

Chalk this up as more information to add to Everything We Know About Twisters. The muscular star of Love Lies Bleeding has broken out with the A24 film since the roles she’s had on The Mandalorian and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but now Katy O’Brian is working out more of her acting muscles in the upcoming natural disaster film, Twisters. Since the announcement of the project, it’s been made clear that the film is not intending to be a direct sequel to the 1996 Jan De Bont blockbuster. However, the Super Bowl spot and trailer for the film do give a nod to Dorothy, the tornado measuring instrument that Jo and Bill (Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton’s characters) constructed and launched.

O’Brian, coming off her big role in Love Lies Bleeding, has spoken with Entertainment Weekly about her blossoming career, which includes Twisters. She remains mum on all the details,...

The family Bill Paxton has settled their wrongful death lawsuit against a Los Angeles hospital and the surgeon who performed on Paxton.

The lawsuit has been ongoing since 2018, the year after Paxton died. It partly alleged that the hospital, Cedars-Senai, and the doctor put the actor in danger by “knowingly performing high-risk and unconventional surgery.” Beginning in 2017, Paxton underwent multiple surgeries, the last of which was for a coronary artery. Eleven days later, Paxton succumbed to a stroke at the age of 61.

According to The Guardian, “Paxton’s family alleged that [the doctor] sought to downplay the procedure’s risks before the actor experienced excessive bleeding, cardiac shock and a damaged coronary artery, ultimately leading to his death.”

Details of the Paxton’s wrongful death lawsuit settlement are unavailable at this time, but The Associated Press reports, citing Paxton’s family’s attorneys, “This matter has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties.

Here’s your daily dose of an indie film, web series, TV pilot, what-have-you in progress — at the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.

In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.

Stolen Innocence

Logline: 12-year-old Jan Broberg was kidnapped by her parents’ best friend and trusted neighbor. Twice.

Elevator Pitch:

In 1974, Jan Broberg was kidnapped by her parents best friend, Robert Bechtold. He drugged her and strapped her to a bed in the back of a motorhome, and drove to Mexico. Upon awakening, Jan heard high-pitched voices, repeating commands through a small intercom, leading her to believe that she and Berchtold had been abducted by aliens. The FBI conducted a nationwide manhunt and found Jan 5 weeks later. Jan’s family remained oblivious to Berchtold’s diabolical intentions towards their daughter. His calculated...