I met with the set decorator this morning and provided her some materials (artwork/photos) for the movie, and discussed some of the details (no real spoilers) of the movie and the vision the director has for the movie. After today's conversation, I am quite hopeful that Twisters will live up to expectations. This movie will be a stand alone reboot. There will be no ties to the original. While I was disappointed when I first heard this news a few weeks ago, since then I have come to embrace the idea of a stand alone reboot, and after what I learned today, I am quite excited.
They realize what worked with the original Twister to make it such a hit. It was exciting, fun, had cutting edge CGI and had memorable characters. The aren't trying to copy the original, but they realize that to captivate audiences they have to tell a story that shows how these storms are engrained into the very fabric of Americana. Now I am paraphrasing the last sentence, but she specifically said Americana, and if you read one of my previous posts here, I specifically mentioned that word Americana. When she said this, my face lit up because I knew they GET IT! As for the storms, I did briefly show her some of Leigh Orf's videos and have emailed her links to his work. It sounds as if Orf's work has already been mentioned by others in the wx community with whom they have been in contact with. That is really exciting to hear. It tells me that we may actually get to see tornadoes out of legit structured supercells and not a benign stratus deck!
Filming is set to begin the second week of May. Some of the towns in Oklahoma where they will be filming include Chickasha (primary location?), Orienta/Fairview, and El Reno. There are scenes planned that involve actual chasers (with vehicles) as extras in pre and post storm environments. The casting call for this has already gone out, and they already have or are finalizing selections.
It was recently announced that actor Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) will be joining the cast.
Now there is a possible writers strike that could happen as early as next week. This may temporarily bring Hollywood productions to a halt, however it sounds that the movie Twisters will move forward in production regardless. I am also hearing they are wanting to push the release date up to May 2024, which has previously been discussed here.
