The 1990s were rife with disaster movies, ranging from the likes of natural disasters such as volcanoes in 1997's Volcano and meteors in 1998's Armageddon to more creatively destructive offerings such as aliens in 1996's Independence Day. The decades since have been rife with reboots to films like The Silence of the Lambs, but now it seems Universal Pictures is interested in rebooting one of its more popular disaster movies: 1996's Twister.
Universal's intent to reboot Twister was reported in an exclusive story by Variety, which says Frank Marshall is attached to produce but there is currently not a writer. The studio is also in talks with Joseph Kosinski to direct according to Variety, who recently directed Top Gun: Maverick — set to release in December after being delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The original Twister, starring Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt as storm chasers, was a blockbuster success for the studio when it first released under the direction of Jan De Bont, having made over $494 million worldwide according to Variety. Its popularity has carried on to this day, even earning a recent satirical take by the YouTube channel Honest Trailers.
It's unclear when work on the Twister reboot will start in earnest due to the search for production staff and ongoing safety measures for COVID-19. That said, productions on television shows and movies like Denis Villeneuve's Dune are starting to become active again.
A reboot of 1996's Twister is in development.