Renny Harlin- Hot Seat Interview- Director- Deep Water

Much like his films, the career of Renny Harlin has been a wild, explosive ride. The Finnish director behind Die Hard 2, Deep Blue Sea, and Cliffhanger has long built a reputation on high-octane action, and with a career spanning back to 1986, he’s truly seen it all. There have been towering highs, like the success of Die Hard 2, and notable lows, including the infamous big-budget flop Cutthroat Island. Now, with his latest film, Deep Water, Harlin stages a triumphant return. Going back to his roots, he crafts a hybrid of disaster and creature-feature thrills—an airplane crash strands survivors in open water, only to pit them against deadly sharks. What’s abundantly clear is that Harlin hasn’t lost a step; Deep Water shows he still has plenty of speed on his fastball. I was grateful for the chance to speak with him on The Hot Seat this week, where he discusses how Hitchcock’s Psycho shaped him, his attraction to disaster storytelling, and reuniting with Aaron Eckhart. Give it a watch:

DEEP WATER IS PLAYING IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE FRIDAY, MAY 1ST, 2026.