Twisters (2024) cost about $155 million to produce, excluding marketing and promotion. It finished with $372.3 million worldwide, below the original Twister's $494.6 million global total despite a larger domestic gross.
Twisters (2024) is the storm-chasing follow-up to the 1996 hit Twister. The new film follows rival chasers tracking violent tornado outbreaks in Oklahoma. Readers comparing the two need both opening results and final totals.
Table of Contents
- What was the production budget?
- How strong was the opening weekend?
- How do the final totals compare?
- Why isn't the raw total the full story?
What was the production budget?
Twisters carried an estimated $155 million production budget, according to Variety, via NME's pre-release report. That figure excludes marketing and promotion costs. It was substantially higher than the original film's $92 million budget, per Box Office Mojo.
The gap reflects nearly three decades of rising production costs. Large-scale weather effects, location work, and a wide release also demand heavy spending. Marketing would add further cost beyond the reported production figure.
How strong was the opening weekend?
Twisters earned $81.25 million from 4,151 North American theaters over July 19-21, 2024, according to Universal, in Comcast's opening-weekend announcement. That beat industry expectations of $50-$70 million. Boxoffice Pro separately estimated an $80.5 million domestic opening and a $123.2 million global start.
The result made Twisters the biggest-ever opening for a natural-disaster film, according to Boxoffice Pro. A strong summer date and premium screens helped. The opening was nearly double the original Twister's $41,059,405 domestic debut, per Box Office Mojo.
How do the final totals compare?
Twisters finished with about $267.8 million in North America and $104.5 million internationally, according to Koimoi reporting Box Office Mojo figures, in its head-to-head box-office comparison. Its worldwide total was $372.3 million. The domestic market supplied most of that gross.
The original Twister earned $241,830,615 domestically and $252,750,000 internationally, per Box Office Mojo data for the 1996 film. Its worldwide total reached $494,580,615. That leaves a clear split between the two releases:.
- Domestic winner: Twisters, by about $26 million
- International winner: Twister, by about $148 million
- Worldwide winner: Twister, by about $122.3 million, roughly 33% higher globally
Why isn't the raw total the full story?
Nominal box-office totals exclude marketing spending. True break-even needs are therefore higher than a simple budget-versus-gross comparison suggests. The limitation also applies to the 1996 film.
Inflation further favors the newer release, according to ComingSoon. A dollar in 2024 bought less than a dollar in 1996. The original's lead looks stronger after adjusting for nearly 30 years of price changes.