In a coincidence so spooky you couldn’t write it, a tornado warning was issued in Chicago just over 24 hours ahead of the US early screenings of new blockbuster Twisters.
The sequel-cum-reboot to the 1996 hit film Twister, which originally starred Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, is set to release in American cinemas on Friday July 19, but with access to advance screenings from Wednesday, its release date in the UK.
However, late on Monday night, downtown Chicago blasted the siren of a tornado warning as several storms raced their way through northern Illinois.
Next to a clip panning across the city’s skyline against an ominous grey background – with lightning seen in the distance – one X user observed the coincidence.
‘This is an easy joke but truly remarkable for Chicago to have among the scariest tornado warnings I’ve ever lived through 24 hours before Twisters premieres in theatres,’ @metaplexmovies wrote in a post published late on Monday night, local time.
The US National Weather Service announced on Tuesday that there may have been as many as 10 tornadoes on the ground during the previous evening.
Officials confirmed that at least one person was killed during the storm outbreak too, which caused power outages and downed trees as part of its damage.
A large tornado was spotted on the ground at O’Hare International Airport, with two others confirmed alongside another possible in other local areas.
There were also twin tornadoes confirmed in Sugar Grove and Oswego, according to CBS News, the same phenomenon that is covered in the movie.
Winds reached as high as 76 miles per hour in Valparaiso, Indiana, a speed officially considered hurricane force.
Residents of Nashville, Illinois, have also received a startling warning to evacuate – or be washed away – as a dam is on the verge from bursting after flash flooding in the area.
Twisters follows Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a young woman haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado who is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi (Anthony Ramos) to test a groundbreaking new tracking system.
Together, they encounter self-styled ‘tornado wrangler’ Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), a charming but reckless social media star who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures.
As storm season intensifies, Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves in a fight for their lives as multiple systems converge over central Oklahoma.
The movie’s star-studded cast also includes Maura Tierney, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’s Daryl McCormack, Harry Hadden-Paton, Kiernan Shipka and new Superman actor David Corenswet.
James Paxton also takes on a role in memory of his father Bill, who died aged 61 in February 2017.
Twisters, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, has seemingly wowed critics so far, with an impressively healthy 84% rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes so far.
‘Every cent of the $200m (£151.1m) budget is visible in a series of dizzying set-pieces that surely amount to the most entertaining film of the year,’ raves NME, while The Wrap observes: ‘Twisters’ miraculously stands out against the modern blockbuster landscape. Just like Twister did back in 1996. It’s the rare legacy sequel done right.’
Meanwhile The Telegraph crowned it ‘the most wholehearted, warm-blooded, meticulously crafted good time at the movies since Top Gun: Maverick’ in a five-star review.
Twisters is out in UK cinemas on Wednesday, July 17.
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