During a Mexican shark dive, five friends are ambushed after discovering cartel cocaine. Trapped in a shark cage, Tatiana and Kaley are forced by the cartel to retrieve a bag of drugs on the seafloor. Battling legendary Great White sharks, dwindling air, and armed killers, the survivors mount a brutal fight to outsmart their captors and escape. Marc Zirogiannis talks, once again, with famed Independent Filmmaker and Director Jesse V. Johnson in the week before the opening of the new action, shark thriller, "Above & Below".
Jesse V Johnson's current release THIEVES HIGHWAY (Jan. 2026), starring Aaron Eckhart, is on the January 2026 The New York Times Top 5 "What to Watch" list. From Collider: THIEVES HIGHWAY is not only now available on Hulu, but it has shot to the number one spot on the streamer's Top 10 list. His previous film with Eckhart, CHIEF OF STATION (2024), also starring Olga Kurylenko and Alex Pettyfer, was #2 on Hulu (Aug. 2024) and outperformed on all platforms. Johnson had his major TV directing debut with Rise of the Merlin: The Pendragon Cycle (Jan. 2026), where he helmed multiple large-scale battle sequences and key emotional scenes, directing Episode 3 and the action-packed finale, Episode 7. His films are often hard-edged and feature imaginative and visceral action but also career-highlight performances from actors, his films are character driven and known to contain complex and emotional performances. Johnson's standout film came in 2019 with AVENGEMENT, the British crime thriller starring Scott Adkins. His Debt Collectors films, THE DEBT COLLECTOR (2018) and DEBT COLLECTORS (2020), starring Scott Adkins and Louis Mandylor, have generated an enormous cult following. Johnson is also highly respected for his critically acclaimed female-centric thrillers: BOUDICA (2023), starring Olga Kurylenko, and HELL HATH NO FURY (2021), starring Nina Bergman. Johnson has been a prominent figure in the stunt world since TOTAL RECALL (1990). He has performed stunts on films including WAR OF THE WORLDS, TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES, and AVATAR. His feature debut as writer and director came with THE PACKAGE (2012), starring "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Dolph Lundgren. He has gone on to direct movies with some of the world’s most prominent action stars, including Antonio Banderas, Aaron Eckhart, John Malkovich, Thomas Jane, Scott Adkins, Dolph Lundgren, Olga Kurylenko and WWE superstar, Steve Austin. ABOVE & BELOW is a 95-minute thriller directed by Jesse V. Johnson and scheduled for release in select theaters on July 29, 2026.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
