‘Twisters’ Earns $80.5M, Third Biggest Opening of the Year

Hollywood star Glen Powell has scored another major box office hit with “Twisters,” a sequel to the nearly 30-year-old classic “Twister.” The film has significantly exceeded expectations, grossing an impressive $80.5 million in its opening weekend, making it the third-highest debut of the year. This strong performance highlights Powell’s continued appeal and the enduring popularity of disaster movies.

“Twisters” was initially projected to earn around $50 million in its opening weekend. However, the film surpassed these predictions by over 60%, trailing only “Dune: Part Two” and “Inside Out 2” in terms of the year’s biggest opening weekends. The unexpected success of “Twisters” is a testament to the film’s broad appeal and effective marketing campaign, which has resonated with both new audiences and fans of the original film.

Billed as a “stand-alone sequel” to the 1996 original, “Twisters” has garnered favorable reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has received positive ratings from 78% of critics and an impressive 92% from audiences. Reviewers have praised the film for being a “wonderfully mindless adventure” and a “fun summer blockbuster.” This positive reception has likely contributed to its strong box office performance, drawing in viewers looking for an exciting and entertaining cinematic experience.

The film’s debut has also set a record for the largest opening weekend for a disaster movie in unadjusted terms, surpassing the $68.4 million earned by 2004’s “The Day After Tomorrow.” This milestone underscores the significant impact “Twisters” has had on the box office and its appeal to a wide audience, eager for thrilling disaster films.

“Twisters” is playing a key role in reviving the summer box office after a lackluster start. It joins a series of surprise hits, including “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” and “A Quiet Place: Day One,” that are helping to boost overall box office performance. These successes are crucial for an industry that has been struggling to meet year-end projections, which have been lowered due to earlier underperformances.

In the same weekend, “Despicable Me 4” was the second-highest-grossing film, bringing in an additional $23 million. “Inside Out 2” followed with $12.7 million, further solidifying its status as the highest-grossing film of the year so far. The horror movie “Longlegs” earned $11.7 million, and “A Quiet Place: Day One” added another $6.1 million, demonstrating the franchise’s continued popularity and avoiding the common pitfalls of many series prequels.

“Twisters” features a star-studded cast, including Glen Powell (“Anyone but You,” “Top Gun: Maverick”), Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Normal People,” “Where the Crawdads Sing”), and Anthony Ramos (“Hamilton”) as storm chasers who track severe weather to Oklahoma. The movie introduces an entirely new cast while maintaining a connection to the original “Twister” through a cameo by James Paxton, son of the original star Bill Paxton, and references to the tornado-measuring device Dorothy from the first film. Despite these nods to its predecessor, the film stands on its own, offering a fresh storyline and new characters.

The summer box office has grossed a total of $2.1 billion in the first nine weekends of the season, which spans 15 weekends from Memorial Day to Labor Day. To match last year’s impressive $4 billion total—the most successful summer since before the COVID-19 pandemic—films will need to generate an additional $1.9 billion. Upcoming releases like “Deadpool 3” and “Alien: Romulus” could help boost these numbers, but the largest anticipated releases of the season have already premiered, making it a challenging target.