Steven Spielberg doesn’t mind boarding his private jet to try and straighten out trouble on one of his sets. The iconic filmmaker passed on helming the 1996 disaster film “ Twister ,” but took a role producing it from afar. When he caught wind of the increasingly volatile conditions on set, however, Spielberg flew to Norman, Oklahoma , to put the fear of God into director Jan de Bont.
“It had been brewing,” “Twister” stunt coordinator Mic Rodgers recently told The Independent . “The ramp came down on the Learjet and Spielberg walked down it and he never touched the ground,” he continued. “He just stood there yelling at Jan.
He never even got off the plane. He was just fucking yelling, pointing his finger at him, screaming at him.” De Bont had, by that point, proven himself a talented action director with “Speed” (1994).
And “Twister,” from a script co-written by “Jurassic Park” novelist Michael Crichton about dedicated tornado chasers in the Midwest, ultimately became a classic 1990s popcorn flick, as evident from the success of the new sequel “Twisters.” But during production, tensions on set grew just as stormy as the plot when de Bont allegedly shoved a camera assistant aside one day and refused to apologize. The entire camera, sound and wardrobe departments walked off set in protest — resulting in an unexpected visit.
“I don’t know what [Spielberg] said to [de Bont], but he barked at him for, like, 15 minutes and got back in the.