Director of “Twisters” Clarifies Fan Question on Its Link to Original “Twister”

Twisters director Lee Isaac Chung has shed some light on the film’s connection to the original 1996 disaster movie Twister.

Starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones, Twisters presents an entirely new narrative set within the same universe as its predecessor. Fans going into the sequel speculated about possible cameo appearances from original characters, with some theorizing that Edgar-Jones’s character could be the daughter of Helen Hunt’s character, Jo Harding.

However, midway through the film, viewers are introduced to Edgar-Jones’s mother, played by Maura Tierney from Newsradio. This new character has no link to anyone from the original Twister movie.

Speaking to The Wrap, Chung explained the lack of crossover between the two films and offered his perspective on the whereabouts of Hunt’s character during the events of Twisters.

“I just felt like that is not what I want to see Jo Harding doing years from now,” Chung said. “Right after seeing that first film, I imagined, ‘What is Jo Harding up to now?’ She’s out there chasing storms, not at the farm complaining that her daughter’s not calling her. And so that was really the basis of why, ‘OK, it’s got to be someone else.’”

Chung previously revealed that he did not consult with Hunt or Jan de Bont, the director of the original, before embarking on the sequel.

“I don’t know what [Hunt’s] version was, and unfortunately, I have not been able to talk to her nor Jan de Bont nor to anyone from the cast about the movie,” he told IndieWire. “We have a few people who worked on the original in our crew.

“When I read the script [by Mark L. Smith with a story by Joseph Kosinski], I really loved the approach they were taking with it, that it was going to be a new story, with new characters and an entirely new science project… I really believe Helen Hunt is a genius, and I would have loved to work with her. That choice was just never a part of me coming on board with this, however.”

In a four-star review of Twisters for The Independent, Clarisse Loughrey wrote, “There’s a part of Twisters that feels expected from director Lee Isaac Chung, the man behind the tender, observant 2020 immigrant drama Minari.

“Real, tangible communities lie in the path of devastation (the inevitable mention of climate change reminds us that the situation only gets worse from here), yet there’s such a feeling of solidarity and resilience in the air that it lends an otherwise chaos-dictated disaster spectacle a surprising touch of hopefulness.”

The film is out now in cinemas.

Source: The Wrap, IndieWire, The Independent