PETA protests “Twisters ”L.A. premiere over film's depiction of a rodeo

The movie is the sequel to 1996's "Twister."

The Los Angeles premiere of Twisters on Thursday drew PETA protestors, who object to the movie's depiction of a rodeo.

A small group of people outside the Regency Village Theatre held up signs with slogans such as "Calves' Necks Are Twisted at Rodeos" and "The Rodeo Hurts and Kills Animals." According to a news release from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, they were demanding that filmmakers stop forcing animals to "stage distressing scenes that glorify rodeos."

Moreover, the organization asked that Universal Pictures "include a disclaimer in the movie's credits about the real-life cruelty inherent in the events—in which cows (including calves), horses, and other animals are tormented, maimed, and often killed—and to discourage audiences from attending them."

Related: Perfect storm: How Twisters continues the legacy of a classic blockbuster with some, well, twists

"While tornado chasers voluntarily risk their lives, the terrified animals who are mercilessly bullied in rodeo arenas and forced to recreate distressing scenarios for movies have no choice," said Lisa Lange, PETA's senior vice president said. "PETA is calling on Universal Pictures to at least give viewers of this inhumane film the facts, which are that animals endure grievous injuries and agonizing deaths just so humans can play cowboy."

At least one protestor slipped into the theater undetected and began yelling her objections to rodeos while stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, and Anthony Ramos were onstage. The protestor yelled, "There’s no excuse for animal abuse. The film needs a disclaimer," she was tackled to the ground by security, and police placed her in handcuffs, PEOPLE reported.

Ramos joked that it was, "a wild intro."

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The sequel to the 1996 action film Twister, the long-awaited Twisters follows the people who warn us about the weather as they chase a dangerous storm. In the new movie, the technology the scientists use is just one of the things that has changed.

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Another is that this go round, the Paxton appearing in the film is James Paxton, who has a cameo to honor his late father, who died in 2017 of complications from surgery at 61.

The younger Paxton told EW that he auditioned for the part, then heard nothing, so he gave up the idea that he might be part of the sequel. So when he finally did get an offer, it was a big surprise.

"It took me a little bit of time to process it, just given the context of my dad and his significance in the original and him not being here," Paxton said. "It's an emotional thing. It wasn't something that I could really decide immediately, It took a little time just to process it, just the magnitude of it."

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Related: Twister star Bill Paxton's son James cameos in Twisters: 'I did this one for Dad,' says the actor

After a beat, he was all in.

"I wanted to be a conduit for his spirit there and cheer everyone in this production on to success because I know he would be," Paxton said. "I wanted to do something that really honors his presence in this new chapter and really do something for him. And I realized there's a lot of amazing people involved in this that I would love to get to know. And so it ended up feeling like the right thing to do, to be representative of Dad there."

Twisters arrives in theaters July 19.

Additional reporting by Calie Schepp.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.