A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master(1988) was a life-changing event forThe Strangers: Chapter 1’sdirector,Renny Harlin.Robert Shaye of New Line Cinema took a chance on young Harlin when the producer hired the virtually unknown Finnish filmmaker forNightmare 4. Flash forward five years, and Harlin is helmingCliffhangerstarringSylvester Stallone.And during an exclusive interview with MovieWeb, Harlin was asked if he had any advice for the team behind the upcomingCliffhangersequel, whichRic Roman Waughis attached to as director. Harlin said:
“I think it’s a sequel to Cliffhanger.I hope for the filmmakers' sake that they will be able to shoot in real locationsbecause [when] we did this [it] was before the advent of digital cinema. So, when we shot the movie,we spent six months in the Italian Alps,in the real conditions,shooting everything for real.
And the actors had to climb mountains, literally.And nowadays, I feel that, in so many cases,these kinds of more complicated movies, they end up being shot in a studio.And thenthe snow on the mountains and the circumstances are created digitally.”
Cliffhanger 2
Harlin (Die Hard 2, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Deep Blue Sea) continued:
“So, for their own sake,I hope they are given the money and resources togo on location and shoot it for real,because I think, for the spirit of that movie, it’s important to feel that reality.And if it’s done digitally, no matter how well it’s done, I feel like the audience can smell it."
Watch Our Interview with Renny Harlin Below
Cliffhanger 2: ‘All Hell Breaks Loose in the Italian Alps’
Sylvester Stallone will return as Gabe Walker inCliffhanger’ssequel.And while Renny Harlin won’t be sitting in the director’s chair again, the action drama has ended up in the capable hands of Ric Roman Waugh (Snitch, Angel Has Fallen, Greenland, Kandahar). Waugh’s vision forCliffhanger 2will feature the “evolution” of Gabe Walker, much in the same way that the lead character of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) was portrayed inTop Gun: Maverick.Waugh made the revelation last May while speaking withScreen Rant:
“I’m going to do the next evolution of Cliffhanger with Stallone, and watch his character evolve forward. And he has a daughter now who’s a mountaineering climber, as well.And all hell breaks loose in the Italian Alps— and here we go.But it’s the evolution of [Cliffhanger] the way Top Gun: Maverick carried forward the story of the original movie;how Creed became the evolution of a franchise of Rocky into something new.
That’s kind of what we’re after on Cliffhanger,so that’s fun. It’s fun to be part of a new fresh start, or the evolution of something like that. But, one is a continuation of a story that means a lot to me.And the other one is going to be fun to hopefully evolve something in a really cool and meaningful way.”
Sylvester Stallone’s Cliffhanger Sequel Will Use New Technology to Take Things to a New Level
Cliffhanger 2 director says that action movies are a dying breed, but technology can make big difference to the cinematic experience of his sequel.
While Stallone and Waugh move forward with theCliffhangersequel,Renny Harlin is busy withThe Strangers’trilogythat has begun withChapter 1. Harlin’s new horror flick is opening up against several movies this weekend, includingIF,The Blue Angels(IMAX) andBack to Black. And while two moreStrangersentries are planned,Chapter 1is being lambasted by the critics. At the time of this writing,Chapter 1registers only 13% on the Tomatometer! The scary flick’s Rotten Tomatoes score of 41% is better, but nothing worth writing home about — to say nothing of its “C” CinemaScore.
The Strangers: Chapter 1is now playing in theaters;Cliffhanger 2’srelease date is still TBD.
