Twisters And Its Marketing Campaign Storms The Box Office
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Glen Powell, Lee Isaac Chung, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos at the "Twisters" Los Angeles ... [+] premiere held at Westwood Regency Village Theatre on July 11, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)
Variety via Getty ImagesTwisters continues to whip up strong box office numbers! Over its fourth weekend, it generated $15 million, bringing the box office receipts from the disaster film to $222 million domestically and $310 million globally, demonstrating impressive staying power and solidifying the film as one of this summer’s biggest blockbusters! The marketing of its predecessor, Twister, helped to solidify the dominance of the 1996 Warner Bros. film and, once again, the marketing campaign for Twisters is helping the new film to pack a punch worthy of an EF-5 tornado! So, what marketing elements have been the keys to the film’s success? Let’s take a look.
A Talented Ensemble of CreativesThe first thing you need to ensure a successful marketing campaign is a quality product and publicity that highlights the key features that speak to this quality. In film, the first indicator of quality is a compelling story idea and a well-written script. The story idea was first developed by Joseph Kosinski, a film director best known for his work on action films heavy in the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI), including such films as Tron: Legacy (2010), Oblivion (2013), Only the Brave (2017), and the summer 2022 blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick. Universal Studios, Amblin Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Pictures then brought in Mark L. Smith, a talented screenwriter who penned such successful films as The Revenant (2015), to write the script based off Kosinski’s story.
In December 2022, Lee Isaac Chung was then hired to direct the standalone sequel. Chung became a prominent name after he directed Minari (2020), an autobiographical film about his childhood move to Arkansas for which he received the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and nominations for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the 2021 Oscars. Although Minari’s success helped to propel Chung to fame, the film was developed from a budget of $2 million, a far cry from the $155 million budget of Twisters. However, the up-and-coming director had a close working relationship with Smith and, once principal photography began, it was evident that Chung was able to thrive on the set of a blockbuster disaster film.
In addition to the ingenuity of the film’s story, script, and directing, a talented cast of rising stars was brought together for Twisters. The lead roles going to Golden Globe Nominee Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing, Normal People), who stars as meteorologist Kate Carter, and Glen Powell (Anyone But You, Top Gun: Maverick) as a charismatic storm-chasing social-media superstar.
Synergy with Television Series, Real-Life Storm Chasers, and Actual Tornado OutbreaksThe second marketing element which has helped to ensure the success of Twisters is the synergy between the docuseries “In the Eye of the Storm” and the blockbuster film. The six-part limited series, which was produced by Arrow Media for The Discovery Channel, premiered on July 14th, just a few days prior to the release of Twisters in theaters. This provided a cross-platform marketing opportunity for film as the television show features immersive eyewitness footage captured by everyday people confronted with various natural disasters, contributing to an interest in these natural phenomena and the people who have experienced them either by happenstance or by choice. This synergy is accomplished because The Discovery Channel is owned by Warner Bros., one of the major studios which collaborated on Twisters. The premiere episode on July 14th featured storm chasers pursuing twisters during a Midwest outbreak, which closely matches the fictional chasing showcased in the film.
In addition to the synergy between “In the Eye of the Storm” and Twisters, there have been shows airing on cable television and distributed through streaming platforms over the years since the release of Twister featuring professional storm chasers. This would include such documentary reality programs as “Storm Chasers” (Discovery Channel and Discovery+) and “Storm Rising” (National Geographic and Apple TV+). In conjunction with television docuseries, the film benefits from the work of actual storm chasers who regularly post eye-popping videos and photos on social media of tornadoes wreaking havoc. The producers of Twisters spent time riding with real-life storm chasers as they were developing the story to see firsthand what the experience was all about. Interestingly, Tyler Owens’ character is rumored to be loosely based on Reed Timmer, a prominent storm chaser with a Ph.D. in meteorology and some 2.1 million followers on Facebook and 995,000 on Instagram.
The realness of storm chasing and the fact that many people are impacted by these violent storms each year helps to generate further interest in the film. This is especially evident when looking at the popularity of the film in states that are especially prone to tornadoes, such as in the South and in an area in the middle of the country referred to as Tornado Alley.
Oklahoma, in particular, has been a hotbed for strong box office returns from Twisters, which is partly driven by the fact that production took place in a number of cities in the state, particularly in the Oklahoma City metro area. People from these cities are naturally curious to see how their hometown is depicted in the film and many residents in these locales have had experiences with tornadoes. In fact, opening weekend, the top theater in the country was the Regal Warren in Moore, Oklahoma, a town that was devastated by a powerful EF-5 tornado that destroyed homes and a school along its path. The twister claimed the lives of 24 people and injured another 212 in the suburb of Oklahoma City.
TOPSHOT - This photo shows the approaching tornado on May 20, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma. Families ... [+] returned to a blasted moonscape that had been an American suburb May 21, 2013 after the monstrous tornado tore through the outskirts of Oklahoma City, killing at least 24 people. Nine children were among the dead and entire neighborhoods vanished, with often the foundations being the only thing left of what used to be houses and cars tossed like toys and heaped in big piles. AFP PHOTO/VINCENT DELIGNY (Photo by VINCENT DELIGNY / AFP) (Photo by VINCENT DELIGNY/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty ImagesIn Twisters, a key scene involving a powerful tornado approaching the town of El Reno is all too real for people who were residents of Moore in May 2013. The scene must also be extremely engaging for people who lived in El Reno during that same month as the widest tornado (at 2.6 miles wide) ever recorded threatened the city some 11 days later. Fortunately, the town was spared the full wrath of the EF-3 tornado as it tracked mostly over open terrain and, thus, impacted few structures. This infamous tornado, however, took the lives of 8 people, including three prominent storm chasers. The violent twister injured 151 others, one of which was The Weather Channel’s Mike Bettes, who was in a storm-chasing vehicle that was violently flipped over and over.
Tornadic outbreaks over the past 6 weeks may also be contributing factor in the continued success of the film in the United States. Hurricane Beryl’s landfall in Texas, and the tornadoes generated by the tropical system (leading to some 110 tornado warnings), occurred only a few weeks prior to the release of the film. This was then followed by the landfall of Hurricane Debbie last week, a storm system that spawned a number of tornadoes in Florida and along the Eastern Seaboard.
Brand Integration CampaignsThe third major key element of the successful campaign is a brand integration deal with Ram Trucks. Ram Trucks is prominently featured not only in Twisters, but in its predecessor, Twister. In the 1996 film, a Ram 2500 was showcased. In the new film, a 2025 Ram 1500 RHO is the storm-chasing vehicle, with some interesting modifications, that is used for literally driving into tornadoes, putting the vehicle’s mantra, “Built to Serve” to the test. The Ram 1500 RHO is not only shown in the film, but a 30-second co-branded commercial was also produced that has been airing on broadcast, Ram’s official YouTube channel, and on the social media platforms of Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. It is also airing globally, including in such regions as North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific. The commercial spot, entitled “Answer Your Calling,” shows scenes from the movie in addition to reinforcing the full lineup of road trucks, including the Power Wagon, Rebel, and Warlock models.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JANUARY 05: Stellantis' Ram 1500 Revolution battery-electric concept pickup ... [+] truck is introduced during a keynote address by Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavaras during CES 2023 at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas on January 05, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 08 and features about 3,200 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 100,000 attendees. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesIn addition to “Answer Your Calling,” Ram Trucks also teamed up with Universal Pictures and the American Red Cross for the theatrical release to help avoid a summer blood shortage and to support disaster relief. All who gave blood during the month of July received a Fandango movie ticket by email and those who donated from July 1-14 received a Twisters and Red Cross umbrella. People who donated blood were also entered into a contest to win a 2025 Ram 1500 Big Horn.
Moreover, the soundtrack for Twisters and the collaboration with country music artists represents another form of co-branding. Given the film’s setting in small-town Oklahoma, the producers of the soundtrack decided to rely heavily on country music and negotiated deals with an array of country music artists, including Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Miranda Lambert, and Jelly Roll. In total, there are 29 songs on the soundtrack with portions of each song sprinkled throughout the movie. This form of branding benefits the film with mentions by disc jockeys playing these songs on the radio and through the consumer awareness generated through music streaming services as subscribers stream the album or listen to content from the featured artists.
As can be seen, the ingenious marketing campaign for Twisters has been key to elevating the film to blockbuster status. The disaster movie brings together a talented ensemble of creatives both behind and in front of the camera. The synergy generated through the collaboration with Discovery Channel’s “In the Eye of the Storm,” real-life storm chasers, and actual tornado outbreaks has substantially deepened the mystique surrounding the film. Lastly, the brand integration deal with Ram Trucks, including the “Answer Your Calling” commercial, in addition to collaborations with the American Red Cross and country music artists, have helped to widen awareness of the film.