After crossing the $100 million mark in less than a week, Twisters, the long-awaited follow-up to the 1996 blockbuster Twister, has proven to be a perfect storm at the box office. That's all thanks to the whirlwind romance between leads Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones and, of course, all those thrilling tornados.
While special effects played a large role in the film, the Oklahoma-set movie was really filmed in the Sooner State. So, all those stormy skies and wide-open spaces are actually authentic. And anyone living in Tornado Alley is all too familiar with the forces of nature—including Ree Drummond.
Ree once wrote about a storm at Drummond Ranch, "Along the bottom of the forming funnel cloud was a roaring sea of rotation—and as I stood there looking at the sky, my stomach churned at the power in those clouds. There’s just nothing like watching a tornado in its beginning stages, especially one this size. Since they’re often either west of our house (i.e. headed right at us, so we’re under the house) or wrapped in rain, it’s rare that we have the opportunity to just sit and watch one form."
Those fictional storm chasers from the film couldn't agree more! But where exactly was Twisters filmed in Oklahoma? Well, we're taking a look at the spots based on real-life locales. So, next time you plan a trip to Drummond Ranch in Pawhuska, you might even take a tour of the featured towns.
Where was Twisters filmed?
What do you get when you take CGI tornados and mix them with the blustering background of Oklahoma? Well, you get a really great movie setting! While parts of the movie were filmed in Los Angeles, many of the tornado ravaged towns seen in the flick can be credited to real-life rural areas in the south. In fact, several scenes in the movie that take place in the bustling streets of Manhattan were filmed in downtown Oklahoma City—just over two hours from Ree's home.
According to IMDB, other filming locations across the state included Chickasha, Okarche, Midwest City, Yukon, Cashion, and more. Chickasha takes on the life of a town called Crystal Springs and is one of the first areas hit by a severe storm. Another key location is that of Howe, which holds the childhood home of Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones).
You'll also see shots of Stillwater, featured in the film as the location for a rodeo Kate and Tyler Owens (Glenn Powell) attend. Fun fact: Stillwater is where Bryce Drummond's college, Oklahoma State University, is located! As for the film's biggest tornado, it bulldozes through the real town of El Reno, Oklahoma, which was actually hit by a large tornado in 2013.
How was Twisters filmed during storms?
Since these Tornado Alley towns are no strangers to severe weather, the cast and crew ended up dealing with real-life bad weather while filming. In an interview with Vanity Fair, director Lee Isaac Chung explained that storm season was great for realistic landscapes, but not so great for getting the movie done. "I wasn’t fully thinking about how much we would be shut down by weather... It was just constantly happening. I’d arrive on set, and first thing, we’d have a lightning delay," says Chung. There were even a few times that everyone on set needed to take shelter to wait out an oncoming storm.
Chung also notes, "We’re filming these guys running up into the overpass [to hide from a tornado], and we have to shut down: That storm ended up producing a tornado. All of us had to find shelter and get out of there." He adds, "We were finding constantly that we would film wonderful skies, but then we’d get shut down as a result, maybe 30 minutes into it."
With all that work in stormy weather, it's no wonder the film is blowing audiences away—and needless to say, fans aren't alone in that!
Catch Twisters in theaters now or on streaming services soon.
Macie Reynolds is the assistant editor of E-Commerce and SEO for The Pioneer Woman.
