Glen Powell honors late 'Twister' star Bill Paxton as 'Twisters' arrives in theaters

"Twisters," the action-heavy disaster thriller and standalone sequel to the popular 1996 film "Twister," is finally in theaters.

To mark the occasion, "Twisters" star Glen Powell took to social media to share a tribute to late "Twister" actor Bill Paxton on X.

Taking to his X account, Powell wrote, "As we release Twisters into the world today, I just wanted to look up and tip my hat to the legend that is Bill Paxton. A great friend of mine who saw poetry in the natural world. His boots are impossible to fill, but this life is all about chasing the greats."

Powell shared a photo of himself and Paxton from what appeared to be a behind-the-scenes snap from "Red Wing," the 2013 film they starred in together. See the post here.

Paxton, who starred in "Twister" alongside Helen Hunt, died in February 2017 due to complications from surgery.

Below, read everything you need to know about "Twisters."

When is 'Twisters' out?

"Twisters" hit theaters nationwide on Friday, July 19.

What is 'Twisters' about?

"Twisters" follows the story of a storm-chasing expert and a more brazen storm-chasing media personality joining forces to track down a violent storm system over Oklahoma.

"(Daisy Edgar-Jones) Kate Carter, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City," the film's synopsis reads. "She crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better."

The synopsis continues, "As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler, Javi and their crews find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives."

Who stars in 'Twisters'?

The "Twisters" cast is packed with some of the most active names in Hollywood including "Normal People" star Daisy Edgar-Jones and "Hit Man" star Glen Powell. The film will also star Anthony Ramos ("Hamilton" on Broadway and the 2021 film "In the Heights"). Filling out the ensemble is Brandon Perea ("Nope"), Maura Tierney ("Liar Liar", "ER"), Sasha Lane ("Hellboy"), new "Superman" star David Corenswet, Daryl McCormack ("Good Luck to You, Leo Grande") and more.

What have the stars said about making 'Twisters'?

Director Lee Isaac Chung told the Hollywood Reporter he hoped the movie, which is executive produced by Steven Spielberg, would inspire a change in how we interact with the Earth.

"As a production, we want to inspire people to embrace the natural world. That can go quite a long ways toward influencing people to make good choices in their relationship with nature, to study what's happening on this Earth and to figure out how can we become better caretakers of the planet," he said.

Powell, Edgar-Jones and the cast of "Twisters" have toured the globe promoting their new film and attended premieres in Los Angeles, London and a special screening in Oklahoma City. Powell opened up about working with real storm chasers who appear in at least one shot in the new movie.

"We all got to know them, and suddenly, we're on different weather-related (online) threads with them. It was so fun being part of that ride. I mean, you just land in Oklahoma and everyone talks like an amateur meteorologist, just looking at the sky with excitement. It was infectious," Powell told USA Today of his time interacting with Oklahoma storm chasers.

Edgar-Jones also opened up about the real impact that weather played on the making of the movie.

"One day, we were filming this scene where a tornado rips through a farmers market, and they made this amazing set full of these stalls. And this crazy windstorm came in and took the entire set out," Edgar-Jones told Variety. "We were hunkered down in the shops nearby, watching the whole set be destroyed, only for us to then film it being destroyed 20 minutes later when they set it back up again."

Ramos opened up in an interview in July with The Oklahoman about being able to shoot on location in Oklahoma.

"I love this stuff, these kind of movies, this is the kind of stuff you want to do," he said at the time.

What was the original 'Twister' about?

"Twisters" is a sequel to Jan de Bont's 1996 classic that starred Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton as estranged spouses Jo and Bill, storm chasers on the verge of divorce who join forces to chase tornados in Oklahoma in order to test the research device they created to study the storms.

"Twister" earned nearly $500 million at the worldwide box office and received two Academy Award nominations, one for best sound and one for best visual effects.

Is 'Twisters' a reboot or a sequel?

As a standalone sequel with no narrative connection to the original, Universal Pictures describes the upcoming film as a "current-day chapter of the 1996 blockbuster."

Star Glen Powell recently told Vogue that the upcoming film should not be considered a reboot. "It's definitely not a reboot," Powell told the magazine. "We're not trying to recreate the story from the first one. It's a completely original story. There are no characters from the original movie back, so it's not really a continuation. It's just its own standalone story in the modern-day."

Does 'Twisters' have a trailer?

"Twisters" debuted its first official trailer on the biggest stage during the 2024 Super Bowl. The trailer showcases Powell, Edgar-Jones and more chasing down violent storms in Oklahoma.

The trailer comes to a climax when the two, along with their crew of storm chasers, discover twin tornadoes that appear to combine in the sky.

Watch the full trailer here:

A second trailer also dropped in May.