Die Hard 6 - Will It Ever Happen?

If you want to get really technical, we already have six "Die Hard" movies. Roderick Thorp's 1979 novel "Nothing Lasts Forever," which "Die Hard" is loosely based on, was actually a sequel to his 1966 book "The Detective," which Hollywood transformed into a 1968 film starring Frank Sinatra. Despite their shared literary origin, one will find little similarity between Sinatra's hard-bitted cop Joe Leland and Bruce Willis' working-class action hero John McClane, but legally the projects were so connected that "Die Hard's" producers were contractually obligated to offer Sinatra the lead role first. Imagine, for a moment, a 73-year-old Ol' Blue Eyes croaking "Yippee-ki-yay, motherf**ker" into a walkie-talkie.

But for non-persnickety trivia buffs, only five "Die Hard" movies exist: The 1988 blockbuster original and its immediate sequels, 1990's "Die Hard 2: Die Harder" and 1995's "Die Hard with a Vengeance," plus two late-arriving entries, "Live Free or Die Hard" from 2007 and 2013's "A Good Day to Die Hard." After "A Good Day" met with so-so box office and scathing reviews, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura began working on a sixth and presumably final film, one that would send John McClane riding off into the sunset like his cowboy hero Roy Rogers. But in the decade since, the project hit delay after delay, and now seems less likely than ever to see the light of day. Let's take a look at the long, strange history of "Die Hard 6" and ask ourselves, will it ever happen?

"A Good Day to Die Hard" failed as a sequel by most measures. While it succeeded in bringing a foul-mouthed, bloody R rating back to the series after the PG-13 "Live Free or Die Hard," it currently stands as the series' worst-reviewed and lowest-grossing (in the U.S.) film. And if the intention was to hand the series off from an aging Bruce Willis to Australian action hunk Jai Courtney (as wayward McClane son Jack), it failed in that regard too. But the sequel fared well overseas, and its sloppiness did little to squelch the fan affection, not just for the series but for Willis in what has become his signature role. Two years later, in 2015, series producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura and "Live Free" director Len Wiseman announced a sixth picture, a prequel tentatively titled "Die Hard: Year One."

But nearly a decade has passed since that announcement was made, and other than renaming the project "McClane," there has been little forward motion in that time. If the sequel is indeed dead, as di Bonaventura sadly proclaimed in 2021, there is plenty of blame to go around, from ongoing script issues, to the 2019 Disney-Fox merger, and, most recently, Bruce Willis' frontotemporal dementia diagnosis and retirement from acting.

Former Warner Bros. executive Lorenzo di Bonaventura has worked on big action thrillers like the "Transformers" and "G.I. Joe" series, and has used the publicity tours for those movies to bang the drum for "Die Hard 6." In 2018 he confirmed the title change from "Die Hard: Year One" to "McClane" in Empire magazine and sounded very excited about the script and the studio's response to it. Just a year later, however, when promoting his "Pet Sematary" remake, he seemed less enthusiastic about the film's prospects. "I don't know what's going to happen there," he told /Film when asked about a possible start date. Finally, in 2021 while on the road for the "G.I. Joe" spin-off "Snake Eyes," he confirmed to Polygon that the project was dead in the water.

Len Wiseman's enthusiasm for the film has likewise tempered over the years. In a 2018 /Film interview, he pushed back against rumors that Bruce Willis would only be minimally involved, stating that not only was the elder McClane the main character but that Willis himself was involved in choosing the young actor to play rookie John. In that same interview, though, he noted that he wouldn't start filming until the script was in the best shape it could be — an error that hampered his work on 2007's "Live Free or Die Hard." Reading between the lines, it seems that nailing down an appropriate script was part of the film's lack of progress.

From the first announcement of the film in 2015, the plan was for it to be largely a prequel featuring John as a young cop in 1970s New York, with modern-day scenes featuring a 60-ish John embroiled in a plot that calls back to those gritty early days. Lorenzo di Bonaventura often compared the film's structure to "The Godfather Part II," the Oscar-winning sequel that unfolds across two different timelines, picking up the story of the murderous Corleone family in the aftermath of the first film while also depicting the family's rise to power decades earlier.

Aside from the contemporary elements, the pitch and its original working title appear to have been inspired by "Die Hard: Year One," a limited-series comic published by BOOM! Comics in 2008 and 2009. Written by legendary comics artist Howard Chaykin and illustrated by Stephen Thompson, the two-volume series depicts John McClane as a rookie cop in New York City, getting caught up in a terrorist plot against the backdrop of the 1976 Bicentennial celebration. The second volume picks up the character a year later, as New York is gripped by fear from the Son of Sam murders and John meets his future wife, Holly Gennaro. While the script that di Bonaventura and Wiseman worked on shares a basic premise with Chaykin's series, it remains unclear whether "McClane" would have adapted any direct plot points from the comic.

Well, Bruce Willis, of course. Like Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones, Willis' onscreen persona is so entwined with John McClane that it seems impossible to do a "Die Hard" movie without him — and thankfully, di Bonaventura and Wiseman seem to agree. But though Willis' participation is non-negotiable, the same cannot be said for any of the other actors who have crossed paths with John McClane (and survived) over the years. Jai Courtney and/or Mary Elizabeth Winstead as McClane kids Jack and Lucy would seem to be a given to return. Bonnie Bedelia has not appeared as Holly since "Die Hard 2" in 1990, but if "McClane" were to feature her and John's courtship in flashback, it would make sense to coax Bedelia back into the fold.

Beyond the McClane clan, consider the series' various sidekicks and foils: Reginald VelJohnson as John's LAPD partner Al Powell, Samuel L. Jackson's Zeus Carver from "Vengeance," Justin Long's nerdy hacker Matt Farrell from "Live Free," or even the smarmy, punchable news anchor Richard Thornburg played by William Atherton. Beyond any of those fan-pleasing cameos, though, the biggest casting question of "McClane" was who might play the young John and Holly. Len Wiseman said in 2018 that Willis would be involved in the selection of the right young actor, and various entertainment sites threw around names like Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who had played a young Willis in Rian Johnson's "Looper"), but no names were ever officially released.

The "Die Hard" series means a lot to fans the world over, and in the absence of an official sequel, some of them have taken it upon themselves to finish the saga. Two years before Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Len Wiseman announced what was then known as "Die Hard: Year One," British author Ben Trebilcook wrote an unsolicited (or "spec") sequel script titled "Old Habits Die Hard." The story unfolds in Japan and features a 60-something John being honored by the Nakatomi Corporation on the 30th anniversary of the events of the first film, only to jump back into action when the party is crashed by the Yakuza. Holly returns, still working for Nakatomi three decades later, as does Zeus Carver, who comes to Japan with McClane just for fun.

Trebilcook posted the script online, where it gained a surprising amount of attention and sparked speculation that the unknown author was working on the film officially. Granted, much of that speculation was fueled by Trebilcook himself, who at the time was best known for accusing video game developers Core Digital of stealing the character of Lara Croft from him. Whether or not Bruce Willis or the franchise's producers ever really considered "Old Habits Die Hard," online film circles embraced it, and in 2016 Trebilcook rewrote it as a self-published standalone novel titled Old Habits. In it, John McClane became "Joe Brady" and the Nakatomi Corporation morphed into the Oshiro Corporation.

While Trebilcook used the internet to get his "Die Hardest" pitch out into the world, in 2015 writer Eric D. Wilkinson harnessed the power of old media for a more unconventional approach: He bought a full-page ad in the Hollywood Reporter. Titled "An Open Letter to Bruce Willis, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Len Wiseman, and the makers of Die Hard," Wilkinson and writing partner Richard Schenkman first pledge their eternal loyalty to the "Die Hard" franchise, and then launch into a pitch that "stay[s] true to the character [of John McClane] and the original, perfect film." Building off the prequel-sequel premise di Bonaventura and Wiseman announced, McClane fights Middle Eastern terrorists inside a supermax prison while serving time for a 40-year-old murder he didn't commit.

In an interview with Gawker after the "open letter" ran, Wilkinson admitted that the ad (and the thousands of dollars spent to place it) was essentially a publicity stunt. "Realistically, this is going to trend for a couple days, then I am going back to doing what it is that I do." His aim? Inspire the series back to greatness, even if no one hired him to do so. "Those movies kick ass," he said, "and I want them to kick ass again." Still, even if Wilkinson and Schenkman didn't get the job, they may have had an impact. The ad likened their flashback-heavy concept to "The Godfather Part II," a comparison that di Bonaventura would himself evoke years later.

In 2019, the Walt Disney Company's purchase of 20th Century Fox went from a "Simpsons" joke to no laughing matter. The corporate consolidation saw Disney take over not only Fox's massive film catalog but also its slate of upcoming releases and projects in development. There were growing pains as everyone adjusted to the new normal. Disney's differing policies on repertory screenings, for instance, put them at odds with some theaters accustomed to showing Fox classics like "Home Alone" and "Die Hard" at Christmas. Film fans were anxious too that family-friendly Disney might turn its back on some of Fox's popular but traditionally R-rated franchises like "Alien," "Predator," "Deadpool," and "Die Hard."

Disney didn't scrap Fox's R-rated films on principle but plenty of other projects in production were either canceled outright (like Channing Tatum's long-awaited "Gambit" film) or sold off to other distributors (like the Tom Hanks western "News of the World"). Unfortunately, "McClane" was indefinitely shelved. Even as early as April 2019, when the merger had only been complete for a month, Lorenzo di Bonaventura voiced uncertainty about the film's future at Disney: "My sense is that we won't know much about it for a while while they debate whatever they're debating," he told /Film when asked if production might begin soon, adding, "They like our script." Alas, liking the script was not enough for Disney to keep "McClane" alive. Two years later di Bonaventura confirmed the project's death in an interview with Polygon.

Even if Disney kept "McClane" kicking and shooting into the 2020s, it still may not have seen the light of day due to the tragic circumstances of its star. In March 2022 67-year-old Bruce Willis announced his retirement from acting due to aphasia, a disorder that affects the language centers of the brain, leading to disorientation and difficulty communicating. The star's health issues had long been an open secret in Hollywood, even as he cranked out more than two dozen "geezer teasers" (B-movies that bill him as the star even when he's only in a scene or two) in this decade alone.

In the year since Willis' public disclosure of his diagnosis, however, his health issues have worsened. In February 2023, daughter Rumer Willis posted an update to her Instagram account, revealing that her father has now been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, an early-onset form of the neurological disease that is often difficult to catch in its early stages and likely more prevalent than currently known. The statement was co-signed by "The Ladies of Willis/Moore," representing his current wife Emma Heming, ex-wife Demi Moore, and Rumer's sisters Scout, Tallulah, Mabel, and Evelyn. Willis' diagnosis prompted an outpouring of support from fans and colleagues, underscoring the fact that despite the downward turn of his career in the last five years he remains a much-loved icon.

Bruce Willis made many great (and not-so-great) films in his five-decade career, but "Die Hard" represents his signature work. The film reinvented the action film in its own image, such that "'Die Hard' on a [fill in the blank]" became the genre's de facto mode for much of the 1990s and beyond. And the movie's Christmastime setting turned it (and to a lesser extent, its sequels) into an unexpected but undeniable holiday favorite, inspiring marathon TV presentations, screenings at independent theaters across the country, pop-up bars, and even Nakatomi Tower-shaped Advent calendars that let you celebrate the season by watching Hans Gruber slowly plunge to his death.

And if Willis never again suits up for another go-around as New York's unluckiest cop, fans got the next best thing (well, maybe not the next best thing) in October 2020, with an action-packed, tongue-in-cheek two-minute ad for DieHard car batteries. Featuring the late Clarence Gilyard and De'voreaux White, respectively, as Theo the hacker and Argyle the limo driver from the first film, the ad depicts McClane trying to change his car battery while also fighting off a dozen or so bad guys. He crashes through the window of his local Advance Auto Parts, crawls through an air vent, blows some stuff up, and calls it a night. The ad was hyped before its premiere with the hashtag #diehardisback, clearly meant to tease fans hoping for a new sequel.

At this point, can fans hope to ever see "Die Hard 6," or "McClane," or "Die Hardest?" Lorenzo di Bonaventura's misadventure in bringing John McClane back to the big screen seems to have come to an end, but in today's IP-driven Hollywood landscape no franchise ever really dies, hard or otherwise. Jai Courtney and Mary Elizabeth Winstead have both proven their action flick bona fides; it's possible to imagine a "McClane" that focuses its modern-day scenes on Jack and Lucy instead of their father. And while it may seem ghoulish and invasive given the circumstances, Disney has the power to bring Bruce Willis out of retirement via CGI, plastering his famous smirk onto the head of some anonymous actor and digitally mimicking his voice to give us one last hollow, lifeless "Yippee-ki-yay."

Also, don't forget the remake/reboot route, whether that means scrapping the modern-day scenes from "McClane" and crafting a full prequel, or remaking the classic original film with brand new actors. As of October 2023, no such plans have been made public by Disney or any other interested parties. For all intents and purposes, the "Die Hard" series seems to have finally died hard. But on the plus side, if and when the series is ever revived, at least they won't have to offer it to Frank Sinatra again.