Moviegoers flocked to the tornadoes this weekend, propelling “Twisters” to a blockbuster launch. The standalone sequel to the 1996 hit film has generated $80.5 million in ticket revenue at 4,151 theaters in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.
That’s about $30 million more than analysts initially expected, and marks the biggest opening for a live-action film this summer.
“We had big ambitions going in, and it’s certainly exceeded our expectations,” said Jim Orr, who heads distribution at Universal. “We’ve got some over-indexing between the coasts, which is also fun to see.”
Its breakout performance recalled Oppenheimer’s debut last year, the same weekend. There are some similarities: the studio, Universal and the numbers. But there are also important differences: “Oppenheimer” was three hours long, rated R (“Twisters” is PG-13) and historical, not to mention the collective enthusiasm around its companion release, “Barbie.”
“Twisters” is a franchise. It may not be a direct sequel to “Twister,” but it does benefit from the brand’s notoriety. The original film directed by Jan de Bont, starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, was a financial success at the time and has only grown in popularity over the years. This film, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, does not include any of the characters from the original and introduces a new group of storm chasers.
The film opened last weekend in select international markets and continued to expand this weekend. Its worldwide total is estimated at $574.4 million.
The Universal, Warner Bros. and Amblin production cost about $200 million, with millions more to promote. Part of that campaign included a very country-oriented soundtrack, featuring a new single from Luke Combs, “Aint No Love in Oklahoma,” which has racked up more than 56 million audio streams. The soundtrack as a whole, featuring artists like Bailey Zimmerman, Tucker Wetmore, Tanner Adell, Lainey Wilson, Tyler Childers, Thomas Rhett and Miranda Lambert, has been streamed more than 75 million times.
Reviews have been mixed but mostly positive for the two-hour thriller. Audiences gave it an enthusiastic A- CinemaScore and 4.5 stars on PostTrak, suggesting word of mouth will be good. Also of note: 24% of moviegoers surveyed by PostTrack said actor Glen Powell was one of the film’s main draws.
“Our director has created exactly what audiences want to see in theaters: a highly immersive, exciting, chaotic story with a charming cast,” Orr said.
Bob Bagby, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners and CEO of Kansas City-based B&B Theatres, which has about 580 screens, said their 4DX auditoriums were nearly sold out all weekend. 4DX is an “immersive” presentation format for movies that includes seat shaking and wind effects.
“Twisters” has also sparked heated debate online, some over the film’s failure to explicitly reference climate change and others over the lack of a kiss between Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones. A video of the kiss that was left on the cutting room floor made the rounds on social media over the weekend.
Bagby appreciated that there was no “surprise political or social agenda.”
“I work in film. We show everything. There have been a lot of films about global warming and that’s important,” he said. “But sometimes you go to the movies and you don’t want to come back to reality and lose your escape. You just want to have a good time.”
Universal also took second place in the U.S. film chart with “Despicable Me 4,” which is in its third weekend. The film has grossed $23.8 million in North America, where it is still playing in more than 4,000 theaters, bringing its domestic total to $259.5 million.
Third place goes to another animation giant: Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2, which is in its sixth weekend and has grossed $1.4 billion worldwide. It’s quickly closing in on Frozen 2 for the title of biggest animated film of all time.
Last year, this weekend, “Barbenheimer” helped propel the box office to more than $311 million. This weekend was never going to match that number, but progress was nonetheless made after a rocky start to the crucial summer movie season.
“Things have really changed since May,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
But another force will storm theaters next weekend with “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which is expected to gross around $160 million. That figure would be enough to dethrone “Inside Out 2” as the year’s biggest opener. It’s unclear how that will affect “Twisters” in its second weekend.
“Just like Barbenheimer was a phenomenon last year, we could see a weekend where people want to go see two blockbusters back to back,” Dergarabedian said. “This second weekend of Barbenheimer is going to be tough.”
Estimated ticket sales for U.S. and Canadian theaters from Friday through Sunday, according to Comscore. Final figures for U.S. and Canadian theaters will be released Monday.
1. “Twisters,” $80.5 million.
2. “Despicable Me 4,” $23.8 million.
3. “Vice-versa 2”, $12.8 million.
4. “Longlegs,” $11.7 million.
5. “A Quiet Place: Day 1,” $6.1 million.
6. “Fly Me to the Moon,” $3.4 million.
7. “Bad Boys: Ride With Us,” $2.7 million.
8. “Bad Newz,” $1.1 million.
9. “MaXXXine,” $819,242.
10. “The Bikers,” $700,000.
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