Twisters has taken the box office by storm and wrangled $80.5 million in North America, making it the third-biggest opening weekend of the year.
As reported by Comscore, Twisters' ticket sales in the US and Canada put it behind Inside Out 2 ($154.2 million) and Dune: Part Two ($82.5 million) for the biggest start of the year. It also boasts the top opening for a natural disaster movie, eclipsing The Day After Tomorrow, which opened to $68.4 million in 2004.
Lee Isaac Chung's blockbuster sequel brought in a further $42.7 million internationally, resulting in a global box office total of $123.2 million against a reported budget of $155 million, while the original Twister, released in 1996, sucked up a total of $494 million worldwide on a budget of $92 million.
Twisters is a standalone sequel to the memorable Bill Paxton/Helen Hunt disaster flick. It returns to the tornado-plagued plains of Oklahoma for more storm-chasing adventures, with an ensemble cast led by Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Anthony Ramos, who weather the storm together through to the movie's end.
The movie touched down in theaters on July 19 and has received generally positive reviews. IGN gave Twisters an 8 out of 10, saying it is "less visually appealing than its predecessor, but more emotionally engaging," resulting in an "effective summer blockbuster worth watching on the biggest and loudest screen."
Universal has yet to announce a streaming release date for Twisters, but it will eventually be released on Peacock, followed by Prime Video.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter here.
