Growing up in the Midwest, developed both a healthy fear of tornadoes and a reverence for Jan de Bont鈥檚 1996 disaster film 鈥淭wister.鈥� He saw the movie in the theater with his family when he was a teenager.
鈥淚 remember thinking, 鈥業 didn鈥檛 know you could chase after these things,鈥欌�� Chung said. 鈥淭hat, to me, was very mind-blowing.鈥�
These were forces of nature he and his schoolmates in rural Arkansas, near the Oklahoma border, were being taught how to safely hide from. And here鈥檚 Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Alan Ruck driving towards them. Intentionally.
When he was hired to direct 鈥淭wisters,鈥� , he knew one thing was non-negotiable: They needed to shoot in Oklahoma, not on soundstages.
鈥淚 told everyone this is something that we have to do. We can鈥檛 just have blue screens,鈥� Chung said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to be out there on the roads with our pickup trucks and in the green environments where this story actually takes place.鈥�
There would be sacrifices that would have to be made, cutting the number of shooting days to make the budget work, but it was important. 鈥淭wister鈥� might have been a major blockbuster, the second-highest grossing film of 1996 behind 鈥淚ndependence Day,鈥� but for Chung it always seemed like a local film done in his backyard. He鈥檇 also filmed 鈥� 鈥� there, his autobiographical family film that got , including best picture and director.
While most might remember 鈥淢inari鈥� as a quiet, contemplative film, it was actually the one that got him thinking about doing something with more spectacle. At the end, there鈥檚 a dramatic fire.
鈥淲e actually lit this barn on fire and just took the risk of filming it in one take,鈥� Chung said. 鈥淚 remember being so filled with adrenaline after that that I was like 鈥業 want to make a disaster film.鈥欌��
The first place he went to location scout for 鈥淭wisters鈥� was a farmhouse. The owner came out and greeted Chung with a hug and the tidbit that he was actually an extra in 鈥淢inari.鈥�
鈥淚 felt like I was coming back home. It was a confirmation that we made the right call,鈥� Chung said. 鈥�'Minari鈥� and 鈥楾wisters,鈥� even though they鈥檙e very different, I kind of think of them as my Oklahoma movies.
There had been talk of a 鈥淭wister鈥� follow-up for a few years, with Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment working with 鈥淭he Revenant鈥� screenwriter Mark L. Smith to develop a new story and figure out the best director for the job. Separately, Hunt was even reportedly at work on a next chapter, and there were several directors under consideration.
But Chung proved his passion to Steven Spielberg, Universal and Warner Bros., which is overseeing international distribution.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like I could see it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was firing off in my mind all the emotions that I want the audience to feel."
The movie, considered a standalone and not a direct sequel to the 1996 film, stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos and Glen Powell as a new bunch of storm chasers. None of the characters from the original are returning, but the legacy of their work is there 鈥� the Dorothy sensors are back and so are references to the fictional Muskogee State University.
鈥淲e do highlight the idea and the fact that, environmentally speaking, storms have become more unpredictable. Tornadoes have become more unpredictable as well. That鈥檚 just hard science," Chung said. 鈥淲e also address the fact that the technology around what we can understand about tornadoes is growing as well.鈥�
They hit the ground running with production starting in spring 2023, to capitalize on the area's actual tornado season. One day, they were filming a scene of Edgar-Jones and her friends running from a giant tornado, trying to find safety. The crew was also getting warnings of a giant storm coming in and were cautioned to film what they needed as quickly as possible. Soon after they鈥檇 made their day and sent everyone home, they got a report that a tornado had touched down about 40 miles away.
Chung and his associate producer decided to celebrate with some of El Reno鈥檚 famous fried onion burgers.
鈥淲e got the shots we needed. The skies were perfect because it looked like a tornado. We got everyone out of there safely. And a tornado actually touched the ground after we filmed it,鈥� Chung said. 鈥淚t felt like a strange, 鈥榦nly when you鈥檙e making a movie鈥� sort of day.鈥�
Everyone had gotten so used to shutting down for weather, tornadoes, storms, lightning, that when it became obvious that the actors were heading for a walkout there were plenty of jokes about 鈥渨hat鈥檚 another strike?鈥� with 鈥淒eadpool & Wolverine,鈥� it gave them time to take a breath and reassess.
鈥淚t felt good to go back in with renewed energy,鈥� Chung said.
Spielberg executive produced the original, but his fascination with tornadoes goes back further than that. Remember the scene in 鈥淭he Fabelmans鈥� when his mother takes the kids out to try to chase one themselves?
鈥淗e is a true tornado fanatic,鈥� Chung said. 鈥淚 had clips for my pitch to him from YouTube of actual tornadoes and every single one of them, he would say, yes, I鈥檝e seen that. I鈥檝e seen that. It turned out he had seen every single YouTube clip of a tornado that is out there.鈥�
鈥淭wisters鈥� isn鈥檛 quite finished yet. Chung said it鈥檒l likely be done by June. And he鈥檚 feeling good about it, having already gotten a pretty major confidence boost from Spielberg, who Chung called a true partner throughout the process.
鈥淗e loves 鈥楾wister鈥� and I could tell he loves this movie as well,鈥� Chung said. 鈥淚鈥檓 humbled by that.鈥�
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Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
