Die Hard 6 will officially be called McClane

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The DIE HARD franchise has never gone in for plain-Jane sequel titles like “Die Hard 3” or “Die Hard 4”, opting instead for the much more badass DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE and LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, titles that call to mind nothing but explosions and one-liners. But for the upcoming sixth installment they’re going for something much cleaner, and the movie with the once reported title of DIE HARD: YEAR ONE is now simply being called MCCLANE.

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Empire got the scoop the movie will have the short-and-sweet title, with producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura telling them the point is let audiences know this movie will be all about exploring John McClane like none of the movies have before.

"You can tell our intention by the fact that the title page we handed in says, ‘MCCLANE’. We want you to get invested in John McClane more than ever before.”

The character has been played by Bruce Willis in the past five DIE HARD movies, and he will return for this sixth outing. However, he will be sharing the screen with a younger version of the character, as the movie will go back and forth between the present and the ‘70s when McClane was a rookie cop. Di Bonaventura says though that’s indeed the structure we will be seeing just as much of Willis’ McClane as we do the younger version.

“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.”

One month ago Len Wiseman gave an update on the production of the movie saying things would get started "fairly soon," and that they were simply waiting on the script to be as good as it could be. Said script must be at that stage, as the report says it was handed in back in July, and that the movie should begin production within in the next few months with Wiseman (LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD) directing. We still have more casting details to learn, such as who will play the young McClane, but should they be ready to start production soon that means we will hear of the casting before then. 

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Taking a page from the book of last year's LOGAN, it seems they could be going for more of an action-drama angle that recent efforts, hoping to make a movie that digs deep into who John McClane is as opposed to having him thwarting more terrorists and hanging off the wings of jets. The shorter title certainly conveys a more grounded, introspective movie, and considering this could very well be Willis' last outing as the iconic character it would make sense to go out on a more personal note. I'm down for that, and maybe that means we will get a bearded, grumpier McClane who swears a lot, which would be amazing.