‘Twister’ Director Jan de Bont Never Heard of Sequel ‘Twisters’ Until Its Trailer Came Out and Pines for ‘Godzilla’ Movie He Never Got to Make

variety.com:

Todd Gilchrist editor Released in May 1996, “Twister” assembled a creative team as formidable as the forces of nature that gave the film its name.

Co-written by “Jurassic Park” author Michael Crichton and his then-wife Anne-Marie Martin, produced by Kathleen Kennedy, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald and directed by Jan de Bont, the $495 million-grossing blockbuster was poised for success before a frame of film was shot.

But even with visual effects firm Industrial Light & Magic (coming off of three Oscar-winning benchmarks for “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Jurassic” and “Forrest Gump”) providing what the MPA would describe as an “intense depiction of very bad weather,” de Bont recalls that actually telling a story involving tornadoes — you know, without everyone involved risking life and limb — proved to be an incredibly tough challenge. “This was such complex new technology,” de Bont tells Variety. “We had 300 shots in the movie, and rendering would take 24 hours for every single shot.” With the 4K release of “Twister” and ahead of the release of “Twisters,” a standalone sequel he says he had nothing to do with, de Bont recently spoke via Zoom about the arduous process of completing its 1996 predecessor.

In addition to recounting how ILM’s proof-of-concept reel was so convincing that it ended up becoming part of the movie’s marketing — yet did not feature a tornado — he reflected on the personnel changes and real-life difficulties faced by the cast and crew while filming, explained what led to his step back from directing after the modest success of the 2003 sequel “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider — The Cradle of Life,” and hinted at the work he was sad not to complete after more than.