Genre: Action/Adventure.
Studio:
Warner Brothers.
Production Company:
Amblin Entertainment.
Project Phase: Greenlighted.
Who's In It:
Bill Paxton (Bill Harding); Helen Hunt (Jo Harding); Cary Elwes (Jonas);
Jami Gertz (Melissa).
Who's Making It:
Jan De Bont (Director); Kathleen Kennedy, Ian Bryce, Michael Crichton (Producers;
Don Burgess (Director of Photography); Michael Crichton, Anne-Marie Martin-Crichton
(Screenwriters); Steven Spielberg, Walter Parkes, Laurie Macdonald, Gerald R. Molen
(Executive Producers); Industrial Light & Magic (Special Effects);
Mark Mancina (Musical Score).
Premise: Two groups of rival scientists chase a group of major tornadoes across Oklahoma. One team is a university science department group led by Jo Harding (Helen Hunt), the other a corporate- sponsored research team (led by Cary Elwes). Add to this Harding's soon-to-be ex-husband meterologist who joins her team (Bill Paxton) and his girlfriend (Jami Gertz), and the real thunderheads start to form.
Release Date: May 10, 1996.
Comments: Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) is handling the chores of the film's computer generated tornado effects. By all reports, it'll be heavy on action and danger. Stompin' Bill Paxton (ALIENS, True Lies) should take note of his prominent role in this film.
Rumors: None.
Scoop Feedback:
March 3, 1996... Van Halen will provide two new songs for the film. [Scoop submitted by Gray Whitten]
March 3, 1996... Things are relatively quiet in Ponca City, Oklahoma - but when a major movie starts filming in town, the locals get excited. Crew members asking farmers to drive around wheat fields for footage. Every hotel and motel room booked for weeks to accomodate the cast and crew. Local residents being offered a few thousand dollars to move out of their homes for a little while so the stars can have a place of their own for the shoot - y'know, the usual Hollywood-meets-small-town stuff. However the Twister shoot did create some interesting activities, including the giant jet turbines set up in nearby ghost towns to simulate tornado-like wind conditions; and the local card dealerships making a good business selling used autos to studio people who'd return a few hours later to purchase more automobiles because the previous ones had already been 'destroyed'. Remember this the next time a major movie chooses to shoot in your hometown (especially if the picture is one that features explosions and superfluous excesses of action sequences) - it may be a bonanza for your local economy. [Scoop info handed in by Gray Whitten; originally compiled by Tim Mulligan.]
Acknowledgments:
Thanks to 'Wavescan' and James Furlong for additional info!
After Its Release:
Week of May 14, 1996... Twister cleaned up in its opening week, blowing in $41,059,405 at 2,414 theatres.