A month before Twisters‘ release, the director of the original disaster movie has shared his thoughts on the upcoming legacy sequel. Little is known about plot details, but it’s rumored that Daisy Edgar-Jones’ character (Kate) is the daughter of Helen Hunt’s Twister character, Dr. Jo Harding. It’s known, however, that Kate is attempting to further Jo’s research after a traumatic experience with a tornado. Twisters‘ cast also includes Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, and Kiernan Shipka.

In an interview with ComicBook.com, the original director of Twister, Jan de Bont, gets candid about Twisters. The filmmaker says that it’s too late for a sequel and that a sequel should have been made 15 years ago, crediting his opinion to the fact that making it earlier would have resulted in a film that combines visual and special effects. De Bont also shares his opinion regarding legacy sequels, saying that it’s better to just leave things alone or to make a movie that’s a direct sequel. Read his full comment below:

I think it is a little bit late. I think it should have been done 15 years ago, because then you might’ve still had a chance to do this combination of visual effects and special effects, and now it’ll be much more visual effects, I’m sure. But that’s being cost-effective. Those things are really … It’s so different now. I think my movie would be really hard to remake, and why would you want to remake it anyway? What would you improve? Sometimes you have to also let things alone, or you have to really make it a real sequel, like a real continuing story, and not just a completely different story, but I don’t know. I’m curious what he made of it.

Could Twisters See The Same Success The 1996 Original Had?

Considering the cult film status Twister has gained over the years, and its Oscar nominations for Best Visual Effects and Sound, one can see where de Bont is coming from. The 1996 disaster thriller is a beloved film, and seeing a legacy sequel coming out could be cause for concern. Fans of the original, and maybe de Bont himself, don’t want to see a half-baked rehashing of something that’s considered with such high regard, but that might not be the case with Twisters.

That being said, some legacy sequels have seen the same, or even more, success than the original films that set up their foundation. A recent example of this is 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick. The legacy sequel currently sports a 96% score from critics and a 99% score from viewers on review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, and it grossed almost $1.5 billion worldwide. Another example of a successful legacy sequel is Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049. While it only made $276 million on a $150 million budget, it serves as a mesmerizing, meticulously made film that further asserts Villeneuve as a talented sci-fi director.

One key factor to take note of, however, is that these two legacy sequels both included the star who played the protagonist in the original movie. Top Gun: Maverick had Tom Cruise and Blade Runner 2049 had Harrison Ford. This may be a key factor in the success of legacy sequels and could spell trouble for Twisters, as Powell confirmed that no original actors are returning for Twisters. Returning characters aside, Twisters might be able to see success if it proves to be the modern disaster epic its trailers make it out to be.

Source: ComicBook