Almost 25 years after Twister whipped up a box office storm and paved the way for a wave of disaster movies, a sequel is finally taking shape. The road to getting here wasn’t exactly smooth sailing though. Back in 2012, Bill Paxton, who starred in the original film, had his own ideas for a follow-up that would crank the intensity up a notch.
Paxton, who also directed movies like Frailty and The Greatest Game Ever Played, envisioned not only reprising his role as Bill Harding alongside Helen Hunt, but also stepping behind the camera.
Inspired by the devastating 1925 Tri-State Tornado, the deadliest in US history, Paxton wanted to create a sequel that reflected a real-life disaster’s destructive power. He even visited the towns affected by the tornado to get a firsthand look at the wreckage.
For Paxton, achieving a level of cinematic destruction that matched the Tri-State Tornado meant utilizing the latest filmmaking technology.
Helen Hunt Was Also Inspired to Write a “Twister” Sequel
With the advancements in 3D technology since the original Twister, Paxton believed he could create a truly immersive and realistic experience, prioritizing thrills over fantastical effects. Sadly, after Paxton’s passing in 2017, his ambitious plans for the sequel never came to be.
As it turns out, Paxton wasn’t the only one from the Twister cast with sequel ideas. Decades after playing Jo Harding, Helen Hunt also hoped to revisit the character. She pitched a concept featuring a diverse cast of storm chasers, even mentioning actors like Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, all associated with a Historically Black College or University (HBCU).
Unfortunately, despite the growing focus on diversity in Hollywood in 2020, Hunt’s ideas struggled to gain traction with studios.
With the recent success of sequels to beloved films like Creed, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Top Gun: Maverick, it seems like a follow-up to a popular disaster flick like Twister was always bound to happen.
While Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt’s visions for a sequel never came to life, their passion for the project might just inspire the upcoming film. And who knows, depending on how audiences react and how the box office performs, the success of Twisters might encourage studios to revisit Paxton and Hunt’s ideas after all.
