We love Bill Paxton here at Empire Towers. The man was Hudson in Aliens, for pity’s sake. He is a bona fide, dead-set legend. Yet it’s been a while since he had a big hit (admittedly, he’s been starring in HBO show, Big Love) and Big Bad Bill has a remedy – Twister 2. In 3D.
Now Twister, which starred Paxton as a dashing tornado expert who chased storms like a man possessed, was a huge hit back in 1996, when CG was in its infancy and people were wowed by whirly black shapes, whooshy noises and the credit, ‘directed by Jan de Bont’. But it’s aged somewhat since then, and now seems like an even emptier spectacle than it did when it first came out.
But Paxton, bless ‘im, thinks that the flying cash cow can be milked some more, and has been pitching a Twister sequel to producer, Kathleen Kennedy.
“I always thought the first Twister was an exciting ride, “ says Paxton, who got the idea for a sequel after going on a marathon research jaunt with a buddy of his, “but I thought a sequel could explore it in a more enthralling way, getting into more of the history and the lore, more of a darker version of the first one.”
Paxton, who was speaking to the ridiculously-named online men’s mag, Bullz-Eye, says that the sequel would retain the humour of de Bont’s original, and that he thinks it would be perfect for the 3D treatment.
“Now we’re kind of waiting to see if that’s going to move forward,” he said. “That would need Steven Spielberg’s blessing, ultimately, and they probably won’t take it to him ‘til there’s real studio interest, but I think the 3D applications of that could obviously be pretty amazing.”
Do you agree? Is a sequel to Twister a horrible idea, or are you just stoked about the idea of Paxton – who could always direct as well – coming back to the big screen?
And for more from Paxton on the trip that triggered his idea, click here.