Twisters is whirling in some big box office money, surprising a lot of critics and initial projections, pulling in over $80 million over the weekend. The standalone sequel to the 1996 hit with Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, became the number-one movie in the country and soon might even surpass would-be tentpoles like Furiosa. There is a debate though on what would have made the movie better and one legendary director put it in his notes and changed the ending completely.
Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Kate Carter and Glen Powell’s Tyler Owens were supposedly going to kiss at some point in the movie but that was ultimately cut. Even reviewers were thrown off by the promise of romance, but nothing came to fruition. Enter executive producer Steven Spielberg.
“I think it’s a Spielberg note, wasn’t it?” Edgar-Jones said talking to Collider about the change. “Do you know what it is? I think it stops the film feeling too cliched, actually. I think there’s something really wonderful about it feeling like there’s a continuation. This isn’t the end of their story. They’re united by their shared passion for something.”
Powell agreed. “I also think that this movie is not about them finding love. It’s returning Kate to the thing that she loves, which is storm chasing. So that’s what you have at the end of the movie,” he said. “They share this thing, and her passion is reinvigorated, and her sense of home is reinvigorated. I feel like a kiss would be sort of unrepresentative of the right goal at the end of the movie. And it is a good Spielberg note. It’s why that kid is still in this game. It’s amazing.”
Spielberg executive produced Twisters through his Amblin production banner, which was also behind the original Twister film.
The film co-stars Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, David Corenswet, Maura Tierney, and Sasha Lane. There’s even a cameo role for Paxton’s son, James, who wanted to pay tribute to his late father with his performance.
Twisters is now playing in theaters nationwide.