Renny Harlin
☼ Born on15 janeiro 1959, in Riihimäki, Finland
Biography:
Born in 15 March 1959 as Renny Lauri Mauritz Harjola, he is the most successful Finnish film director in the history of Hollywood.
Harlin started his career in film business in the beginning of 1980s when he was directing commercials and company films for companies like Shell. Later he worked as a buyer for Finnish film distributor and met Finnish Markus Selin in Los Angeles. They became friends and started writing a screenplay called "Arctic Heat". The project started fast and soon they had Chuck Norris signed on leading role for the film. But with money problems shooting schedule didn't hold and Norris left the project, but Selin and Harlin got Mike Norris for the leading role. They wrote new script, Born American (1986), and got financial help from USA. In the year 1986 Born American (1986
(see all)
) was finished and the most expensive Finnish film ever opened in USA in over 1,000 theaters and reached no 9.
The film wasn't successful in Finland, where it was banned. Harlin moved to Los Angeles and got a job from Halloween - O Regresso do Mal (1978) producer Irwin Yablans who offered him script of "Prison" to film. Film was made with low budget and distributed with only 42 copies. In the same year 1988 he got a job from New Line Cinema to direct Pesadelo em Elm Street 4 (1988) after meeting producer Robert Shaye numerous times, who at the first didn't want Harlin to direct the film. It became the highest-grossing film in the series, though its budget was seven times greater than the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" film.
20th Century Fox wanted Harlin to direct the Andrew Dice Clay rock'n roll comedy The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990) and also a sequel to Die Hard - Assalto ao Arranha-Céus (1988). Harlin made the both, but only Die Hard 2 - Assalto ao Aeroporto (1990) was commercially successful, with over 239 million dollar worldwide gross. Next he directed Assalto infernal (1993) with Sylvester Stallone which made $255 million worldwide and was nominated for 3 Oscar's. Before Assalto infernal (1993) Harlin was hired to direct "Alien³" but he left the project because of creative differences.
His next film A Ilha das Cabeças Cortadas (1995) was a pirate film made with $100 million budget. Unfortunately it came out without good promotion and flopped badly. It made only $10 million in USA and for a time became the biggest flop in Hollywood history. But for Harlin, it wasn't a total loss.
A Profissional (1996) was a critical success, but was a box office flop, grossing only $30 million domestically with a $65 million budget.
In year 1998, Warner Bros. wanted a summer blockbuster for the year 1999 and Renny Harlin was the right name to direct. Perigo no Oceano (1999) came to theaters after costing 60 million dollars to film and made $160 million worldwide. The film never hit the top spot in the USA but still grossed $73 millions in the USA alone.
Harlin was hired to direct Exorcista: O Princípio (2004) after John Frankenheimer left the job and died shortly after it, and Paul Schrader was fired. Producers knew that Harlin could made a blockbuster even with the weak script, and so he did. With $50 million budget the film opened in number 1 and grossed $80 million worldwide.
Probably most liked Harlin's film Caçadores de Mentes (2004) was released in 2004 after years post-production. It was released in USA in 2005 in over 1,000 theaters but it only reached 10th place. In 9 weeks it grossed only $4 million dollars.
O Pacto (2006) was released in 2006. With non-famous (but attractive) actors, the film hit the top in its opening weekend and became a successful film. With a $20 million budget, it grossed $37 million worldwide and DVD sale brought $20 million more.
In the role of director
Águas Mortais (22/07/2026)
O thriller de desastre aéreo/marítimo Águas Mortais, boa tradução de Deep Water, precisou de SEIS roteiristas para ser escrito. A única certeza possível a respeito desses seis roteiristas é que eles não conversaram entre si. E eu cheguei a essa realização, pois eu acredito que esses seis roteiristas nunca mantiveram uma conversa na vida deles. Todos os diálogos do longa são patéticos e artificiais, chegando a ser cômicos de tão falsos. E não é só isso: estou bem seguro em afirmar que esses seis roteiristas nunca andaram de avião na vida. Águas Mortais é um filme de terror para aeromoças: todas as direções que elas dão em casos de acidentes são subitamente descartadas antes de meia hora de filme. Após um pouso no mar, absolutamente NENHUM passageiro coloca seu colete salva-vidas — que, qualquer um que andou de avião sabe que eles estão estrategicamente colocados debaixo de seus assentos. Assentos que deveriam ser flutuantes, pelas regras que eu lembro da aviação. Aparentemente os roteiristas também esqueceram disso: o desastre aéreo deixa um punhado de malas boiando no oceano, mas nenhum assento. Flutuação é o terceiro item que os roteiristas não sabem como funciona. Aparentemente, há pouquíssima coisa menos densa que a água naquele avião, e nada do que flutua parece fazê-lo de forma natural. Até mesmo a atuação de bons atores soa falsa. O filme conta com Ben Kingsley, que definitivamente estava precisando pagar algum boleto; e Aaron Eckhart, o duas caras do Nolan, mas que eu prefiro lembrar pelo ótimo Obrigado por Fumar. A dupla interpreta piloto e co-piloto, que parecem sempre interagir sempre de forma a lembrar o que Nathan Fielder fez durante a segunda temporada de O Ensaio. Lembrar dessa série foi o que me manteve são durante os piores momentos do filme. E os piores momentos chegam das profundezas. Os tubarões do filme são tão ruins quanto a introdução deste parágrafo. É outra coisa possível de afirmar sobre os roteiristas: eles nunca assistiram Discovery Channel durante a Semana do Tubarão, e nem nadaram nas praias de Boa Viagem. Águas Mortais é um filme ruim com uma premissa ruim. E eu não acredito que precisaram de SEIS roteiristas pra trabalhar nisso daqui.