In a wide-ranging conversation with AMFM Magazine’s Paul Salfen, legendary director Renny Harlin and rock icon turned producer Gene Simmons unpacked the primal appeal of their new shark-infested survival thriller Deep Water. Set for a big-screen release on May 1, the film promises to deliver the summer’s most gripping blend of high-stakes action, raw emotion, and white-knuckle terror.
The discussion kicked off with the timeless draw of shark movies, especially as beach season approaches. “We love a good shark movie,” Salfen noted, “and it’s right before summertime… what is it about these movies that we just love, even though it’s going to scare the heck out of us to go in the water again?” Harlin and Simmons leaned into the psychology of fear and communal experience.
Gene Simmons, ever the showman, framed it perfectly: “I’m not talking about sitting at home with a bag of Doritos. I’m talking about going to the movie theater and having this collective experience… other people get scared, other people laugh, other people scream, and then you can laugh because you screamed.” He emphasized how Deep Water taps into fundamental human anxieties—flying in a massive metal tube and the unknown lurking beneath the ocean’s surface. “What lives there? Something that can grab you any time.”
Simmons described the film’s storytelling power with his signature flair, comparing it to a childhood campfire tale: “Let me tell you a story… and then it begins. All your senses are being tickled. It’s like you’re sitting next to somebody on a roller coaster ride.” He promised audiences an emotional roller coaster—thrills, chills, chuckles, and even tears. “You’re going to find yourself chuckling at a few places and actually crying. It’s a very intense, all-around emotional human experience.”
Harlin, the visionary behind blockbuster action hits, stressed the importance of grounding the spectacle in emotional truth. He spoke about the “contract” a director makes with the audience from the film’s opening moments. “If you abide by the contract… the audience will be grateful. If you break that contract, they will hate you.” For Deep Water, that means staying rooted in a terrifyingly plausible reality: a Los Angeles-to-Shanghai flight crashes in the Pacific, leaving survivors adrift in shark-infested waters. No flying sharks or impossible feats—just extreme, heart-pounding situations that could happen on the unluckiest flight ever.
“You have to be honest to the story that you’re telling and not just go for the spectacle, but go for the emotional truth,” Harlin explained. Sometimes, he noted, “the fact that somebody has a splinter under their nail is much more effective than the fact that the car blows up.”
Simmons was quick to shine the spotlight on Harlin’s central role. While actors often receive the glory, he argued that the director’s vision drives everything—from tone and performances to the final edit. “At the beginning, middle, and end of this is all about our director,” Simmons said. He praised the international cast led by Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley and Aaron Eckhart, alongside Molly Belle Wright, Angus Sampson, Kelly Gale, and Li Wenhan. The film is written by Pete Bridges and John Kim, and produced by a powerhouse team including Simmons, Ying Ye, Neal Kingston, Grant Bradley, Dale Bradley, Adrián Guerra, Xavier Parache, and Bob Yari.
Kingsley himself offered memorable wisdom that resonated with both Harlin and Simmons: “If your motives are pure, the angels will come.” It’s a mindset that clearly fuels their collaborative drive to entertain and connect with audiences on a deep, visceral level.
Harlin and Simmons both urged viewers to experience Deep Water the way it was intended—on the big screen, preferably not alone. “You’re going to want to hold on to somebody’s hand next door because it’s going to rock your socks,” Simmons warned with a grin.
From the producers’ passion to the director’s disciplined approach to storytelling, Deep Water aims to be more than just another shark movie. It’s a full-throttle summer event that blends spectacle with humanity, fear with catharsis, and isolation with the shared joy of theater-going.
Mark your calendars for May 1. Just make sure you bring a friend—and maybe skip the ocean swim afterward.
