Wakita to host "Twister" 25th Anniversary festival May 15

My column has been highlighting Oklahoma’s prospects as the next Hollywood mecca the past few weeks, focusing on huge upcoming projects from Martin Scorsese, Taika Waititi, and others.

That being said, it is always important to remember the past, and by that I mean Warner Brothers 1996 masterpiece TWISTER, which is celebrating it’s 25th anniversary next weekend in Wakita, OK.

May 15 will see Wakita’s Twister 25th Anniversary “Party Till The Cows Come Home” block party beginning at 10 a.m. with an open house and autograph party at the Twister Museum until noon, and again from 1- 3 pm. There will also be a “Storm Chaser Car Show” (no parade) with a celebrity lookalike contest and more fun and games to be had including corn hole, a scavenger hunt, and a NERF gun target practice area.

Lunch will include walking tacos, burgers, and sloppy joe meals as well as a birthday party to honor the late Bill Paxton. Guests are encouraged to bring cash money as well as lawn chairs.

Due to COVID-19 precautions, masks will be worn in the museum.

Autographs will be available from Sean Whalen (Rabbit’s assistant in the film), April Warren (the flashback mother), and one of the paramedics in the film John Rhyne.

Sean Whalen cut his teeth on several roles following TWISTER, with appearances in ABC’s masterpiece “LOST”, the sitcoms “Superstore” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, and was recently seen in the HBO Max film AN AMERICAN PICKLE.

April Warren is perhaps the face of Oklahoma, appearing as Jo’s mother in TWISTER’s brutal opening scene before appearing in films like UNPLANNED and the Oscar nominated MINARI (filmed in Tulsa), and can next be seen in Matt Damon’s STILLWATER (filmed around Guthrie), AMERICAN UNDERDOG, and UNBREAKABLE BOY, both Zachary Levi films which filmed down and around Oklahoma City.

John Rhyne has appeared in BROTHER MINE, as well as THE GRANDFATHERS.

The Town of Wakita, a small community of less than 400, was used by name in the mid-90’s by WB to film a crucial destruction scene for TWISTER where the ensemble cast visit before they attend a drive-in screening of THE SHINING (another WB classic) where a terrifying F4 tornado devastates the town.

Wakita has embraced the Hollywood legacy that brought big-screen greats to the community including Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (sporting an OU ballcap) and since has ran a successful TWISTER-based museum with props from the film, replicas, merchandise, and more.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the film’s release, right on the heels of news that Universal (the film’s international distributor) would be rebooting the project with visionary director Joseph Kosinski (TRON Legacy, TOP GUN Maverick) attached to direct