‘Die Hard 6’ moves ahead: Titled ‘McClane,’ directed by Les Wiseman, Bruce Willis confirmed
The long rumored Die Hard 6 is indeed moving forward as a “prequel/sequel” with Bruce Willis certainly back in a film titled: McClane.
Empire has the news on the film project once called Die Hard: Year One.
“You can tell our intention by the fact that the title page we handed in says, ‘McCLANE’,” producer Lorenzo diBonaventura told Empire. “We want you to get invested in John McClane more than ever before.”
He added that, despite rumors that the prequel section would take up more of the run time, the sequel-prequel approach will feature Willis just as much as his younger incarnation. “I don’t know how you do Die Hard without Bruce,” he said.
“The idea that he’s not very significant in this movie is not accurate at all. We are gonna explore John McClane in his twenties. But just as prominent is the 60-year-old version.”
Based on the previous Year One title, it’s likely McClane will be drawing inspiration from the eight-issue comic book limited series Die Hard: Year One, written by Howard Chaykin and illustrated by Stephen Thompson.
Here’s the synopsis of the comic:
Every great action hero got started somewhere. Batman Begins. Bond had his Casino Royale. And for John McClane, more than a decade before the first Die Hard movie, he’s just another rookie cop, an East Coast guy working on earning his badge in New York City during 1976s Bicentennial celebration… and the Summer of Sam. Too bad for John McClane, nothing’s ever that easy.
Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes co-wrote the film’s script, and Len Wiseman, who directed Live Free or Die Hard, is set to helm.
Slash Film bashed the news in their coverage: “…a Die Hard prequel goes against everything that made the original Die Hard so special. Based on that film, the events at Nakatomi Plaza were among the first action-packed moments of cop John McClane’s life, and he was improvising as he went along. He was a fish out of water, out of his element and dealing with terrorists. To delve into his backstory seems like a mistake. Then there’s the fact that there hasn’t been a good Die Hard sequel since Die Hard With a Vengeance in 1995. Is there really any life left in Die Hard? I guess this film will answer that question once and for all…”
Back in 2016 Wiseman explained the desire to go back and explore certain facets of the character’s history.
“For sure, because he can’t be the superhero… It’s a delicate balance of giving you a sense of what started McClane, because McClane when he comes into Die Hard 1 has a lot of emotional baggage, baggage in general moreso than a lot of our other action characters in the sense that he’s already divorced. He’s got an incredible chip on his shoulder. He’s bitter. His captain hates him, doesn’t want him back in New York. What caused all that? Why was he already that guy?”
More on that HERE
The Die Hard franchise
