Renny Harlin on why Cliffhanger would never be made today

In an exclusive interview with Dexerto, Renny Harlin has opened up about why his 1993 action movie classic Cliffhanger would never be made today. 

Talks of a sequel have circulated for years, but it wasn’t until the end of 2023 that Cliffhanger 2 was confirmed, with Sylvester Stallone set to reprise his role for more gravity-defying action.

However, Harlin won’t be getting back behind the camera for round two. Ahead of the release of the first chapter in his new The Strangers movie trilogy, Dexerto took the opportunity to ask about his thoughts on the sequel. 

Although he was keen on making a Cliffhanger 2 after the success of the first entry, he feels it’s “a real challenge” to make a follow-up more than 30 years after the original, describing it as “a little funky.”

“With all the respect, and this is not to glorify my own movie, but I would say that it’s a real challenge to do a movie called Cliffhanger in that similar kind of environment in today’s world,” Harlin tells us.  

“Because when we made that movie, the digital CGI world hadn’t been invented. So we had to do everything for real. We went to the mountains and we spent six months in the Italian Alps, shooting everything for real. 

“There is no film studio that will allow that to happen today, because it’s so expensive and so dangerous. So it’s going to be done in a studio for sure, and then you’re dealing with CG effects. And no matter how good the effects are, I don’t see how they can be as good as the real thing.”

The filmmaker went on to say, “It would be different if this movie took place in New York City or London, but it’s in the mountains. And the audience will smell in five seconds if they are not real mountains. 

“There’s no way they’re going to do it in the real mountains. It’s just not going to happen. So I feel for them. It’s challenging.”

He also raised the point that “any of the actors who survived the first Cliffhanger are so much older now.”

For now, Harlin is focused on the release of The Strangers: Chapter 1, a three-movie reimagining of the 2008 home invasion horror movie. 

Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez take on the lead roles of Maya and Ryan, a couple whose pitstop in a quiet Oregon town takes a turn for the terrifying when a trio of masked killers pay an unwelcome visit. 

The Strangers: Chapter 1 arrives in cinemas on May 17. You can also check out more movies to watch this month, as well as all the films dropping on streaming in the coming weeks.