'Twisters' dodged mention of climate change. It likely helped the Oklahoma film become a hit

Back in the 1990s, the blockbuster success of the movie "Twister" was credited with creating a veritable storm surge of interest in weather science .

Oklahoma meteorologist Kevin Kelleher would be happy to see the long-awaited follow-up film "Twisters" have the same effect. The retired deputy director of the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Kelleher served as the storm consultant on both movies.

"We're linked at the hip with the University of Oklahoma , and what we noticed was that student enrollment in meteorology went up — it doubled — and it really never came down too much," Kelleher told The Oklahoman at the recent Oklahoma City premiere for "Twisters."

"That brought in this great knowledge base and talent base that helped attack some of the problems in meteorology. And if that comes out of the second one as well, that would be great, because we still have a lot of unanswered questions."

Some of those questions involve the role climate change has or will have on tornadoes. Although weather scientists are uncertain about the effect of climate change on the frequency and severity of twisters, recent studies have found that the late spring and early summer time frame that traditionally has been called "tornado season" in the United States has expanded, with tornadoes now occurring more often at other times of the year.

But the words "climate change" are never mentioned in the movie "Twisters," which follows a new generation of storm chasers played by Daisy Edgar-Jones , emerging heartthrob Glen Powell and Anthony Ramos as they track tornadic activity across the Sooner State.

How does the new movie 'Twisters' address climate change?

Filmed in and largely set in Oklahoma , "Twisters" includes multiple references to "once-in-a-generation" tornado outbreaks and an increasing number of supercells, floods and droughts.

But director Lee Isaac Chung , who grew up on a farm near the Arkansas-Oklahoma border , opted not to include an overt climate change message ― or any message — in the standalone sequel.

"I don't like to preach in movies, and I just really want to give people an experience," Chung said on the red carpet at the July 15 OKC premiere . "The original 'Twister' is a nice ride. It's very fun and entertaining. I hope people come to this, and in a similar way, just have a lot of fun. We try not to take ourselves too seriously, but we try to be a film with a lot of heart and a lot of thrills."

How did the movie's approach to climate change affect the box-office success of 'Twisters?'

Although some climatologists have criticized "Twisters" for not addressing climate change head-on, some movie industry analysts have cited the movie's avoidance of politics, in particular climate change, in helping it storm to No. 1 at the domestic box office over its opening weekend.

The legacy sequel, which officially opened in theaters last Friday, July 19, landed at a debut of $81.2 million at the North American box office, Deadline reported Monday . That's well beyond the $50 million to $55 million several tracking services and industry publications were forecasting for "Twisters" going into the weekend.

"Twisters" easily ripped its way to the top spot on the box-office charts with the biggest opening weekend yet this summer for a live-action movie. The domestic debut for "Twisters" ranks as the third biggest opening weekend for 2024, behind only “Inside Out 2," with about $155 million, and “Dune: Part Two," with $82 million.

Deadline cited Sunday the appeal of "Twisters" to underserved moviegoers in the middle and southern United States as key to the action vehicle roaring to the top of the box office. To ensure that the summer tentpole sold well in Middle America, the team at Universal Pictures, which is handling the film's domestic distribution, opted to keep the film apolitical and lean into the escapist fun of a summer popcorn movie.

The industry publication noted that the top-grossing cities for the opening weekend for "Twisters" were Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, Oklahoma City and San Antonio, Texas.

Although New York City and Los Angeles usually boast the highest-attended movie venues in the country, Variety reports that the top-earning theater for the opening weekend for “Twisters” was the Regal Warren in Moore , an OKC area theater that was actually grazed by an EF5 tornado in 2013.

Box Office Pro pointed out that "partly by burying climate change discussion in favor of amusement park-style thrills," "Twisters" proved accessible to film fans across the country.

At the July 15 OKC premiere of "Twisters," Powell played up the movie's entertainment value as a summer blockbuster.

"It contains everything you need: It's thrilling. It's adventurous. It's fun. It's funny. It's directed so well, and the performances are beautiful. It's emotional. And it's about the people of Oklahoma. It's about this community," Powell said on the red carpet.

What did the 'Twisters' storm consultant think of the movie's scientific accuracy?

Although the premise of "Twisters" stretches the limits of what scientists "can and cannot do with Mother Nature," Kelleher, the storm consultant, praised the filmmakers of the new chapter for "Twister" for their dedication to getting the science right.

"When I was in town, I was on set, so most of the days. It was amazing, for one thing, to have such a professional group that wanted to get as much science correct as they could — and from the top down, that's what they were after. So, I'm very blessed to be able to do that twice. I never thought I'd do it once," Kelleher told The Oklahoman.

"There's been a lot of technology changes and upgrades in radar and things you see in the (new) movie. But we still don't know exactly how tornadoes form. So, we see them trying to get to that."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: 'Twisters' dodged mention of climate change. It likely helped the Oklahoma film become a hit