We’ve seen reboots and remakes of any 1990s property with even a shred of recognition toward the IP, but there’s something about the idea of another Twister movie that feels artificial in a particularly shameless way, does it not? Nevertheless, Variety reports that Universal Pictures is currently developing that movie. They also repeatedly use the word “reboot,” begging the question: Can you really “reboot” a film series about a singular tornado? Is this a modernized remake of the original story? Or an especially heavy-handed attempt to somehow follow-up on the original characters from the 1990s, despite the sad fact that Bill Paxton is no longer among us?
Variety reports that Joseph Kosinski, the director of the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick and the previous Tron: Legacy and Oblivion, is being eyed to direct, with Universal currently meeting with writers to produce the screenplay.
But back to the point: How does one “reboot” a film with such a concise central premise? Twister was about a pair of husband and wife storm chasers/meteorologists who rekindle their relationship over the course of a few days trying to launch a weather device into the heart of a tornado. Does a Twister “reboot” follow a similar structure, or is its only similarity the fact that it will presumably involve a tornado at some point? Is Universal making this film just so they can use the title Twister on what will otherwise be an effects-driven disaster movie? Wouldn’t a straight remake make more sense? Hell, what room is there for “a movie about a tornado” in a world where the likes of Geostorm exist, anyway?
There’s no denying that in 1996, though, Twister made bank, bringing in almost $500 million at the worldwide box office, directed by Jan De Boot and written by Michael Crichton of all people. It feels, however, very much like a product of its time … and something that might better be left alone, out of respect to Paxton at the very least.
We’ll bring you more information on whatever this Twister “reboot” morphs into, as soon as it breaks.