Twisters Star Glen Powell Says Genre Fatigue is Simply Solved by Good Films

As many cinephiles will agree, Glen Powell believes there is no problem that can’t be solved with a great movie, and the actor believes the same applies to Hollywood itself. Powell, who currently stars in the disaster epic Twisters (alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones) has seen his career boom over the last few years. The actor, who got his break in Spy Kids 3: Game Over, has been collecting different genres like hot cakes. Last year, Powell led a romantic comedy (Anyone But You), the year before he starred in an action blockbuster (Top Gun: Maverick), and this year he appeared in an action/comedy (Hit Man), and now Twisters.

Twisters

3.5/5

A follow-up to the 1996 original film Twister, Twisters is a sequel set years after the original, said to be fast-tracked by Steven Spielberg and Mark L. Smith, with Frank Marshal as producer. Little details exist about the film, but Helen Hunt is expected to reprise her role as Jo, with the film likely to pay homage to the late Bill Paxton. 

Release Date

July 19, 2024

Director

Lee Isaac Chung

Runtime

2h 2m

Studio

Amblin Entertainment, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, Universal Pictures

Tagline

Chase. Ride. Survive.

Studio(s)

Universal Pictures , Warner Bros. Pictures , Amblin Entertainment , The Kennedy/Marshall Company

Distributor(s)

Universal Pictures , Warner Bros. Pictures

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Speaking to The Telegraph, to promote his upcoming role in Lee Isaac Chung’s Twisters, Powell discussed his genre-hopping antics, and declared that there are no “dead” genres in Hollywood. The cinematic landscape has seen several genres go in and out of fashion over the last century. Noir thrillers, westerns, romcoms, and more recently, superhero movies, have all suffered from “genre fatigue” following their sharp rise in popularity. However, Powell, engaging the producer side of his brain, says that a genre’s “death” opens an opportunity for new filmmakers to enter the space. Powell explained:

“One of the things that I’ve realized recently is that when studios say a genre is dead, all it means is that there’s a huge opportunity, because a market is not being served. The business stopped making romantic comedies, apparently, because romantic comedies weren’t making any money in theaters. But my belief is there’s no problem facing Hollywood that can’t be solved by a really good movie.”

A Twisters Set Was Destroyed by a Real Storm

Putting his money where his mouth is, Glen Powell is reviving another “dead” genre… the disaster movie. Disaster movies are almost as old as cinema itself, although many believe the genre hit its peak in the 1970s, which has been described as the Golden Age of disaster movies. The 00s and 2010s saw a revival of the genre. Directors like Roland Emmerich made a name for themselves producing large-scale, world-ending disaster movies like 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow. Twisters is bringing the genre back to the big-screen with an amazing cast that includes Anthony Ramos, David Corenswet, Katy M. O’Brian, Brandon Peream, Sasha Lane, and Maura Tierney, alongside the aforementioned Powell and Edgar-Jones.

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Not content with just showing tornadoes on the big-screen, Twisters was shot during the height of Tornado Season in Oklahoma (where the movie is set). This posed unique challenges to the film’s production. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Powell described the day a set was completely destroyed by a real storm, which had to be rebuilt the next day for shooting. The actor said:

“There was a day in which there’s a farmer’s market that’s supposed to get blown down the street. And right before we shot the farmers market getting blown down the street by jet engines, a real 80 miles per hour [storm] just took the entire farmer’s market. And so we were just kind of chilling inside while they had to rebuild a farmer’s market.”