Steven Spielberg is to blame for the lack of kissing in ‘Twisters’

Steven Spielberg wanted to keep things professional for the Twisters leads

By Joe Allen Published July 22, 2024

The cast of Twisters. — Universal Pictures

Fans of disaster movies are relishing in the news that Twisters made more than $80 million in its opening weekend. The decades-later sequel to Twister had an opening weekend that wildly exceeded expectations, and left many wondering whether we may eventually get another sequel.

For all of the movie’s critical and commercial success, though, some notice that this disaster romance was lacking something that the first Twister was sure to include. Namely, the movie ends without Glen Powell’s Tyler and Daisy Edgar Jones’s Kate sealing their new relationship with a kiss. Some people naturally wondered why there was no kiss in the film, and it turns out that legendary director Steve Spielberg is the one to blame.

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In the movie’s final scene, it seems like the two are getting ready to smooch, but before they can, they’re pulled away to another storm. We also learned that a version of the scene was shot where the two share their climactic kiss.

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In an interview with Collider, Edgar-Jones and Powell shared that the note to cut the kiss came from Spielberg.

“I think it’s a Spielberg note, wasn’t it? Do you know what it is? I think it stops the film feeling too cliched, actually,” Edgar-Jones said. “I think there’s something really wonderful about it feeling like there’s a continuation. This isn’t the end of their story. They’re united by their shared passion for something.”

Powell added that the movie was more about them finding a more spiritual and professional connection.

“It’s returning Kate to the thing that she loves, which is storm chasing,” he added. “So that’s what you have at the end of the movie. They share this thing, and her passion is reinvigorated, and her sense of home is reinvigorated. I feel like a kiss would be sort of unrepresentative of the right goal at the end of the movie. And it is a good Spielberg note. It’s why that kid is still in this game. It’s amazing.”

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Joe Allen is a freelance culture writer based in upstate New York. His work has been published in The Washington Post, The…

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