The 1996 action movie Twister is having what we call in the business A Moment. In June, rumors started to (ahem) swirl that it might be getting a reboot. Then, earlier this month, Esquire declared that the film—about a group of tornado-chasing scientists traipsing across the Midwest—was “the most American movie you can watch on the Fourth of July.” Last week, New York magazine’s Vulture named it “the perfect ‘90s disaster flick.” The attention is well-deserved, of course—director Jan de Bont’s movie is as perfect as Helen Hunt’s wind-swept hair—but their timing is curious. Why talk about a 24-year-old movie now, when you could talk about it next summer, which will be its quarter-century anniversary? Or, really, any other time?
A theory: There’s no other summer blockbusters to talk about.
As Covid-19 keeps most multiplexes closed to the public, all of the big summer movies that were supposed to come out this year have been postponed or delayed, beginning with the new James Bond flick No Time to Die and continuing on to yesterday’s report that Christopher Nolan’s next movie Tenet will be delayed for a third time. From Jaws in 1975 to Mad Max: Fury Road four decades later, every summer has had one massive movie that nearly everyone saw and proceeded to talk about. But, this year, coronavirus lockdowns are shifting the discourse around the summer blockbuster, changing how we’ll remember the culturally significant events of 2020. And perhaps how we’ll remember those milestones for years to come.
Quite frankly, this might be a good thing. Right now, Hollywood is (ahem) reeling due to the ramifications of Covid-19. Studios can’t—or at least don’t want to—release movies when theaters are mostly closed. They’re also only just now finding a way to make movies during a pandemic when no one can be less than six feet apart. The impacts, and ripple effects, are likely to be huge. But at the same time, the pressure and predictability of Summer Blockbuster Season has gotten a bit stale. Every year, studios trot out flashy, bo
