Hollywood Stuntman Larry Rippenkroeger Set to Make Directorial Debut with Jet Ski High-Octane Action Film HOT WATER

Everyone knows high-speed supercar films are a guaranteed box office smash, but now there is a new kind of high-octane action coming to our screens, written, produced and directed by none other than a former personal watercraft (PWC) champion!

Larry Rippenkroeger, who also works as a stunt double to Hollywood superstars such as Bruce Willis, dominated the PWC scene back in the late 80s and 90s when he competed in the sport. Now he is excited to be in the production stage of his debut film Hot Water, which is set to land in cinemas and movie theatres next spring. The action-comedy centers around competitors of a fictional PWC championship tour as they battle it out for the title.

To gather second-unit footage for the film, throughout summer, Larry and his crew are taking to PWC events. They recently stopped off at Powerboat P1’s inaugural Miami event where action from the biggest and baddest PWC competition, P1 AquaX, unfolded!

Speaking to Powerboat P1, Larry explained his excitement for being at the Miami event. He said “The P1 events are exciting. I see a lot of love for the sport, a lot of energy and it’s growing and growing so I would love to see this event turn into an annual one. It’s a perfect venue to race too.”

He also spoke about his career and where he first found the inspiration for the Hot Water film, Larry said “When I used to race I had many surreal moments where I was reaching top speeds with stunning skylines as company. In those moments I found myself thinking ‘wow this is like something out of a movie’.

From there, I made it my life ambition to bring the excitement of PWC racing to the silver screen, one day. It may have been a long time in the making, but it’s so awesome that it’s finally happening.”

An injury caused Larry to bow out of competitive PWC racing in the 90s but that was by no means his last foray with marine watersport. He went on to pursue a career as a stunt double and what a colorful career he has had so far. Larry has performed the stunts for many high-profile blockbusters and most notable of all, spent 10 years working as Bruce Willis’ official stunt double. Working alongside the star, Larry featured in some of the actor’s most iconic films including Sin City, Hostage and The Whole Ten Yards as well as the latter chapters of the Die Hard franchise – Live Free or Die Hard and A Good Day to Die Hard.

Larry explained how it was during filming for Live Free or Die Hard that saw his own film really begin to find legs “During filming for Live Free or Die Hard, I fell from 25ft tall scaffolding where I came out with life-changing injuries including two broken arms, a skull fracture, a punctured lung, fractured ribs and other serious injuries. It took me a whole two years to recover and it was during this time out that I was able to properly sit down and write the screenplay for Hot Water. It’s kind of sad but it literally took me to take a serious hit, to write the script. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I was going from film to film before my accident. You could say the accident was both the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me.”

While the cast for Hot Water is yet to be officially confirmed, one thing for sure is that with Larry’s personal background in PWC racing, his association with Hollywood films and continued passion for the high-speed sport, Hot Water is sure to be an unmissable flick.