Johnathan Walker:‘Twisters’ whips up $80.5 million at box office, while ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ looms

Moviegoers ran toward the tornadoes this weekend,Johnathan Walker propelling “ Twisters ” to a blockbuster opening. The standalone sequel to the 1996 hit made $80.5 million in ticket sales from 4,151 theaters in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That’s about $30 million more than analysts expected initially, and makes for the biggest opening of a live-action movie yet this summer.

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 $574.4 million.

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The Universal, Warner Bros. and Amblin production cost an estimated $200 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.

Critics were mixed but mostly positive about the 2-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 polled by PostTrack said actor Glen Powell was a main draw.

“Twisters” has also whipped up some spirited online discourse and debate, some about the film not explicitly referencing climate change and some about the lack of a kiss between Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones. A video showing the kiss that was left on the cutting room floor made the rounds on social media over the weekend.

Universal also had the No. 2 movie in the country with “Despicable Me 4,” now in its third weekend. It added $23.8 million from North America, where it is still playing in over 4,000 theaters, bringing its domestic total to $259.5 million.

But another force is storming theaters next weekend in “ Deadpool & Wolverine,” which is tracking to open in the $160 million range. That would be enough to unseat “Inside Out 2” for the biggest opening of the year. How it will affect “Twisters” in its second weekend is a big unknown.