“Twisters” may do some damage at the box office.
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The movie, a standalone sequel to the 1996 disaster epic “Twister,” is expected to generate a sizable $50 million to $55 million when it touches down in 4,000 North American theaters over the weekend. “Minari” filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung directed “Twisters,” which stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell and Anthony Ramos as storm chasers who find themselves in the fight of their lives as multiple tornadoes converge over central Oklahoma.
“Twisters” cost $155 million to produce, so its backers at Universal need the movie to resonate globally to justify that price tag. Warner Bros. is releasing the film internationally, where “Twisters” has earned $11.5 million from 38 territories to date. It will land over the weekend in much of Europe, including major markets like France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.
The original “Twister,” starring Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes and Philip Seymour Hoffman as storm-chasing scientists trying to conquer the most powerful tornado in decades, was released nearly 30 years ago and turned into a massive hit. It became the second-highest grossing movie of 1996 and scored two Oscar nominations. The sequel has garnered mostly positive reviews (it holds an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes), with Variety’s chief film critic Owen Gleiberman describing “Twisters” as fun but “not nearly as good” as its predecessor. “Powell, with that squint, that coif, those complex dimples, confirms his old-school movie-star magnetism, and there are moments of spectacle that hook you,” he wrote in his review . “But ‘Twister,’ in its time, was bedazzling because we had never seen anything like it on the big screen before.” The follow-up, he concludes, is “a movie where reality ultimately takes a lot of the wind out of its gales.”
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Comparisons to the same weekend in 2023 will be tough because this time last year, “Barbenheimer” fever was sweeping the nation. Yet after a slow start to summer, the domestic box office is finally gaining momentum. Disney’s Pixar sequel “Inside Out 2” is the biggest success of the year with $1.348 million worldwide and counting. Universal and Illumination’s “Despicable Me 4,” too, has been a boon with $434 million globally to date. And Neon’s occult-tilted horror film “Longlegs” became a surprise bright spot with $22.6 million in its debut, marking one of the biggest starts for an indie release. Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, touches down on July 26 and looks to carry the good times into August.
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