Posted in: Movies, Universal | Tagged: film, lee isaac chung, Twister, Twisters, Universal Pictures

Twisters Director on Why He Was Selected for the Film

Twisters director Lee Isaac Chung reveals how his upbringing helped him nab the job for the Universal Pictures sequel.

Published Sat, 27 Jul 2024 06:17:09 -0500

Article Summary

Lee Isaac Chung, raised in Arkansas, believes his upbringing influenced his selection for directing Twisters.
Chung aims to bring authenticity to Twisters, reflecting his experience with nature's power and unpredictability.
The original Twister emphasized realism; Twisters promises a grounded approach, crucial for such a blockbuster.
Twisters reunites audiences with nature's fury, focusing on storm chasers battling unprecedented tornado systems.

In just a few days, the sequel/reboot of the disaster film Twister will touch down in theaters (titled Twisters), ushering in a new era of storm-chasing madness. And considering that the first film was such a beloved production, there's a lot of pressure regarding executing a follow-up that's coming decades later. So, what makes the new filmmaker behind Twisters feel like a natural fit for such an ambitious blockbuster event? Well, other than being an award-winning director, there's the fact that he's pretty familiar with the topic.

Twisters: Time To Chase Some Tornados In The First Official Trailer — (from left) Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, and Director Lee Isaac Chung on the set of Twisters. Byline: Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures; Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Twisters filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung divulged that his upbringing in Arkansas (near the Oklahoma border) presumably helped him nab the job. Chung explains, "From what I understand, they were hoping that they could find a filmmaker who comes from the area. There's just a feeling when you're living in that part of the country where you have to be humble to nature and to weather. I wanted to bring that feeling of what it's like to live in that part of the country and deal with nature: to be in awe of it, to fear it, but also to be in love with it. I wanted to combine all of those things in this movie."

In the first movie, it was repeatedly stated that the Twister filmmaker aimed to create very realistic experiences for its cast. For the new film, Twisters, it sounds like we'll be getting a more grounded perspective, which is very important for a film of this caliber.

Twisters Plot Summary, Release Date, and Official Cast

This summer, the epic studio disaster movie returns with an adrenaline-pumping, seat-gripping, big-screen thrill ride that puts you in direct contact with one of nature's most wondrous—and destructive—forces.

From the producers of the Jurassic, Bourne, and Indiana Jones series comes Twisters, a current-day chapter of the 1996 blockbuster Twister. Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, the Oscar® nominated writer-director of Minari, Twisters stars Golden Globe nominee Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing, Normal People) and Glen Powell (Anyone But You, Top Gun: Maverick) as opposing forces who come together to try to predict, and possibly tame, the immense power of tornadoes.

Edgar-Jones stars as Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi (Golden Globe nominee Anthony Ramos, In the Heights), to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better. As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler, and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.

Twisters features an exciting new cast, including Nope's Brandon Perea, Sasha Lane (American Honey), Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Nik Dodani (Atypical), and Golden Globe winner Maura Tierney (Beautiful Boy). From Amblin Entertainment, Twisters is directed by Lee Isaac Chung and is produced by Oscar® nominee Frank Marshall (Jurassic and Indiana Jones franchises) and by Patrick Crowley (Jurassic and Bourne franchises). The screenplay is by Mark L. Smith, writer of the Best Picture nominee The Revenant. Twisters was distributed by Universal Pictures domestically and by Warner Bros. Pictures internationally on July 19, 2024.