'Twisters' whips up US$80.5 million at box office, while 'Deadpool & Wolverine' looms
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Moviegoers ran toward the tornadoes this weekend, propelling 'Twisters' to a blockbuster opening. The standalone sequel to the 1996 hit made US$80.5 million in ticket sales from 4,151 theaters in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Moviegoers ran toward the tornadoes this weekend, propelling “Twisters” to a blockbuster opening. The standalone sequel to the 1996 hit made US$80.5 million in ticket sales from 4,151 theaters in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.
That’s about US$30 million more than analysts expected initially, and makes for the biggest opening of a live-action movie yet this summer.
“We had big aspirations for it to begin with, and it certainly exceeded those,” said Jim Orr, who heads distribution for Universal. “We’re seriously over-indexing between coasts which is fun to see as well.”
Its overperformance recalled “Oppenheimer’s” debut last year on the same weekend. There are some similiarities: The studio, Universal, and the numbers. But there are also important differences: “Oppenheimer” was 3-hours long, R-rated ("Twisters" is PG-13) and historical, not to mention the collective enthusiasm around its release date companion, “Barbie.”
“Twisters," meanwhile, is a franchise. It may not be a direct sequel to “Twister” but it is benefiting from the brand recognition. The original Jan de Bont-directed film starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton was a financial hit at the time and has only become more beloved over the years. This film, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, does not include any of the characters from the original and introduces a new crowd of storm chasers.
It opened last weekend in some markets internationally and continued its expansion this weekend. Globally, its total earnings is estimated to be US$574.4 million.
The Universal, Warner Bros. and Amblin production cost US$155 million to produce and millions more to promote. Part of the push included a country music heavy soundtrack, with a new Luke Combs single “Aint No Love in Oklahoma” which has racked up more than 56 million audio streams. The soundtrack as a whole, featuring the likes of Bailey Zimmerman, Tucker Wetmore, Tanner Adell, Lainey Wilson, Tyler Childers, Thomas Rhett and Miranda Lambert, has over 75 million streams.
