A new DIE HARD movie has been on the way for quite some time, even if many have their doubts it will ever happen. Not only is the movie on the docket, but the movie has apparently enlisted two new writers – Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes of THE CONJURING fame – to rework the script. But based on the idea, maybe it would be best to just write a whole new movie.
The news comes as an exclusive from The Tracking Board, saying that the duo will do the rewrite for the movie set to be directed by Len Wiseman (LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD) and starring Bruce Willis. As previously believed, the sixth entry in the series is set to be a prequel/sequel that will move back and forth to a present-day John McClane (Willis), and the 70s as we see him as a young rookie cop.
The faux title being thrown around is DIE HARD: YEAR ONE, referencing the famous Batman comic, “Batman: Year One,” which finds Batman first starting out doing his bat-like things. Wiseman spoke about this angle in the past saying that he wanted to explore a story where McClane meets his wife Holly and is working as a simple beat cop.
Perhaps its just me, but I feel like with each successive DIE HARD movie they get further and further away from what made the first movie great. McClane is just a regular cop, thrust into a hostile circumstance that he must overcome. But now he’s had more adventures than Captain America, each more over-the-top than the last. Now, this prequel idea is getting very origin story-esque, which doesn’t help matters. The only way I can see this working is if the Hayes Brothers make it so that those 70s scenes are simply about the character’s emotional background, and not so much a “watch McClane in his very first adventure!” thing. But, really, can anything be worse than A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD?