EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment are meeting with directors hoping for a spring start on Twisters, a big-scale sequel to the 1996 storm-chasing blockbuster. Universal and Warner Bros are co-financing, with Universal taking the creative lead on the picture. Frank Marshall is producing.

Here’s what The Dish has heard: Amblin’s Steven Spielberg himself flipped for the script by The Revenant scribe Mark L. Smith, and his enthusiasm provided the impetus for the fast-tracked film. Top Gun: Maverick helmer Joseph Kosinski was going to direct, but he fell off the film when he committed to the Formula One racing movie vehicle for Brad Pitt that Apple acquired last June after a big auction earlier this year.

They haven’t locked in a new director yet, but among the helmers under consideration are the Oscar-winning Free Solo team of Jimmy Chin & Elizabeth Chai Vaserhelyi; Dan Trachtenberg. who most recently directed the terrific Predator reinvention Prey and before that 10 Cloverfield Lane; and Travis Knight, the Laika chief whose recent animated films were Missing Link and Kubo and the Two Strings. There might be one or two others in the mix. Jan De Bont directed the original.
Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton in 1996’s ‘Twister’

Sources said that the hope is to bring Helen Hunt back, with a drama that focuses on the daughter she had with the character played by the late Bill Paxton. She has caught the storm-chasing bug her parents had.

It’s not surprising they would want to revive Twister. The original film was a huge hit, grossing more than $494 million worldwide, pushing the envelope on visual effects and featuring a cast that included Phil Seymour Hoffman and Todd Field. The original was scripted by the late Michael Crichton. The film also hatched a theme-park attraction for Universal. The topic of climate change and extreme weather is more timely than ever, making the film less escapist fare as it’s too much of a reality.

Universal EVP Production Sara Scott will oversee for the studio, and Ashley Jay Sandberg will oversee for Kennedy/Marshall.

Smith is repped by CAA, Syndicate Entertainment and attorney Mark Temple.

Stay tuned.

EXCLUSIVE: Following an extensive search that had a number of top directors chasing the job, sources tell Deadline that Oscar-nominated Minari director Lee Isaac Chung is in early talks to helm Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment’s Twisters, the sequel to the blockbuster Twister. Warner Bros., which released the 1996 pic, will co-finance. Mark L. Smith penned the script, with Frank Marshall producing through his Kennedy/Marshall banner.

Deadline first reported in October that execs and producers on the project, especially Steven Spielberg, flipped for the script Smith delivered to the studio and ultimately fast-tracked the pic for a spring start. At the time sources said that the hope was to bring Twister star Helen Hunt back for a drama that focuses on the daughter she had with the character played by the late Bill Paxton, who has caught the storm-chasing bug her parents had.

Insiders add that no one is in talks to star as the focus is to close Chung’s deal, which is still in negotiations.

Best known for his Oscar-nominated work on the A24 drama Minari, this project marks Chung’s first venture into the big-budget tentpole genre. He grew up on a farm in rural Arkansas and has his fair share of experience with taking cover in storm cellars when a tornado would hit land. This personal connection hit with execs and following one last in person last week, Chung became the top choice to land the job.

The original pic starred Hunt and Paxton, Twister and was a massive hit in 1996, scoring more than $494 million at the worldwide box office, thanks in no small part to the film’s ground-breaking special effects. The original film was helmed by Speed director Jan De Bont and executive produced by Spielberg, with a screenplay by author Michael Crichton.

Executive VP of Production Sara Scott and Creative Executive Jacqueline Garell will oversee for Universal Pictures, and Ashley Jay Sandberg will oversee for Kennedy/Marshall.

Smith most recently penned the upcoming drama Boys in the Boat which George Clooney directed. He also penned the script to the Netflix pic Midnight Sky, which Clooney also directed and starred in.

Chung is represented by CAA and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein. Smith is repped CAA.

Universal Pictures has announced that its recently unveiled film Twisters from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung (Minari) will open in theaters nationwide on Friday, July 19, 2024.