Bruce Willis to star alongside a younger Holly McClane in the Die Hard prequel McClane
Aux Features moviesDie Hard fans have been through a lot. Die Hard was well-received by both the critical community and the general public when it was released in 1988, spawning four sequels and dozens of Die Hard-esque movies—Speed, Under Siege, Passenger 57, and Skyscraper, just to name a few. The sequels would remain in (somewhat) good favor with critics for Die Hard 2 and 3, but, oh, did things take a sharp turn after the release of A Good Day to Die Hard in 2013. By the fifth sequel, which practically turned John McClane into a superhero, the magic of the “regular-guy-who-found-himself-in-an-unfortunate-situation” was lost. Which brings us to the (very divisive) sixth film in the franchise, McClane.
Formerly known as Die Hard: Year One, all eyes have been on what the prequel will be about, and who will take on the role of a younger John McClane. Fast-forward two years later, and McClane director Len Wiseman tells /Film that Bruce Willis will star in the film. A younger Holly McClane will also make an appearance, as well as potential appearances from characters introduced earlier in the franchise. Len Wiseman’s Live Free or Die Hard was PG-13, but producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura hopes that McClane will be rated-R. When asked by /Film if an R-rating was possible, he replied: “I hope so … Look, I’m not in charge of that. Would I prefer it? Absolutely.”
86 Comments
What? How? Bruce Willis looked 35 in the original Die Hard. He looks, like, 40 now, but how can he possibly play an even younger John McClane?
I need to know a lot more about this … will Bruce Willis be de-aged with CGI or do we get to suspend disbelief by casting him as a 30-year-old?
Have you seen the trailers for Glass? Bruce Willis looks like a fresh out of college greenhorn!
That’s James Mcavoy.
Haha. It would have been better had you said it was Samuel L Jackson, though.
The /Film article says it’ll be 60 year old McClane working a case that makes him reflect on his younger days. So, in short, this will be terrible.
As a movie? Yeah, probably terrible. But if it were a limited series on Starz titled Die Hard: The Young John McClane Chronicles, and in the wraparounds, old Bruce Willis wore an eyepatch with no explanation?
Bruce Willis with an eyepatch is Darkest Timeline Bruce Willis. No explanation required.
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Well, clearly he should be wearing some kind of orthopedic shoes.
I’d be totally okay with a Die Hard clip episode, done Community style, where all the flashbacks are actually new scenes with little context.
I’d go for a “McClane’s Mind Blowers” live series if Christopher Lloyd would play Rick.
You win.
*McClane prepares to jump off of a collapsing building attached to a fire hose*
“How can the same shit happen to the same guy for the first time?!”
Neither. Joseph Gordon-Levitt with bad prosthetics.
And a bad script
It will be Joseph Gordon-Levitt wearing a stupid prosthetic mask that will make him look like young Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Bruce Willis.
His real age would be imperceptible if he used ‘80s slang and wore baggy pastel pants and jackets with shoulder pads.
They found some guy in a pool hall to do it. I think his name is Bruno.
There already is a Die Hard prequel. It’s called The Detective (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Detective_(1968_film)). It came out in 1968 and starred Frank Sinatra.
That’s an impressive cast. Probably kind of hard to “action up” that story line into a popular Die Hard sequel, though.
Worth noting here that the A.V. Club did a pretty interesting “Page To Screen” on .
Just for the sake of being pedantic, I don’t think it counts as a prequel if it came out 20 years before.
And doesn’t contain a character named John McClane. It’s more that Die Hard was a reboot of The Detective.
They should go back even further and do one where he’s in high school and he’s trapped in the local butcher’s meat locker.
While Bruce Willis and Bonnie Bedelia will reprise their original roles, I have it on the highest authority that young Al Powell will be played by Donald Glover.
Whoever that authority is does sound like they’re high, yeah.
Vel, vel, vel! I hope it traces the root of his debilitating Twinkie addiction.
Or it’ll just show that scene where he shoots a child carrying a toy gun.
I hope it leads to a Family Matters prequel series starring Donald Glover.
STEVE!
So will Donald put on a fat suit or gain 80 pounds De Niro style?
so Joseph Gordon Levitt wasn’t available?
John and Holly’s marriage sucked shit, why would they want to make another movie focusing on that
Because their one son died in a boating accident and their other son is depressed and suicidal and the guy from Taxi is the only one who can help!
And the resulting movie is guaranteed to win Best Picture over anything Martin Scorsese might make.
I might be in the minority but I thought the de-aging in Ant-Man and the Wasp was very convincing. If they could do that with Bruce Willis for an entire movie it could work.
Even when it’s done well I find it very distracting. I don’t want to see a whole movie that. Honestly, the idea of making a prequel with scenes featuring the older actor, and presumably using either a different actor or a CGI de-aged version in the other scenes… it just sounds like a bad idea. I’ve been tolerant of the scenes where they do this in Marvel and X-Men movies, but it’s easy to ignore when it’s only 5 minutes of a two hour movie.
This has me worried about Captain Marvel as the trailers make it seem like CGI Sam Jackson has a pretty large role.Also I hate to throw out the old “hollywood is out of ideas” cliche but what the fuck, not only is every old movie getting a remake or pointless sequel but now they’re de-aging the original stars to keep making the same shit over and over again.
I agree, it was convincing. It was also very sparingly used. Building a whole film around a photoshopped actor is a dicey proposition.
“Building a whole film around a photoshopped actor is a dicey proposition.”Somebody’s gonna fuck that chicken, and soon.
Of course you are right. Sigh. Hopefully the super-intelligent killer robots we similarly just can’t not create come about first. That way I can at least mercifully die before an era when every trip to the multiplex becomes a tour of the uncanny valley.
It was called Justice League.
“Building a whole film around a photoshopped actor is a dicey proposition.”Somebody’s gonna fuck that chicken, and soon.Tron Legacy?
Hmm, I’d discount that on a couple of technicalities, first one being that Clu is not the main character.
Avatar?
Beowulf? The Polar Express? Mars Needs Moms?
All-CGI movies are kinda the opposite of what I was talking about.
Might as well be Bruce Willis.“Die Hard Fucking Chicken”…“Die Hard Fucking Chicken Barefoot in a Sweaty Tank Top”
We’ll see after Captain Marvel comes out, I guess.
If they could do that with Bruce Willis for an entire movie it could work.
Or they could save $100 milion and cast someone else.
Counterpoint: Zombie Peter Cushing in The Force Awakens. Uncanny Grand Canyon, that.
I realize it’s silly to think that inferior sequels ruin the original, however, I was seriously planning to watch the original Die Hard tonight and after reading this article, suddenly, I’m not that interested in watching it again.Think I’ll throw in good old fashioned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation instead.
Die Hard was a near perfect action movie. I do vaguely remember a sequel but I’m sure you’re imagining that there were several. Did Sinbad star in those too?
Young John McClane will be played by Jake Peralta.
Take my money now!
initially they said he would be playing the current age of the character and someone else would play his younger self as he reflects on his career…him appearing in the whole movie isn’t necessarily the same as him playing his younger self.either way wiseman is trash and this will most certainly suck.
A Good Day to Die Hard is the fifth movie. The fourth one is called Live Free or Die Hard, and it’s ok.
They should go all the way back and have him as a baby. Then cast Kirstie Alley as his mom and call it Look Who’s Talking.
Born Hard
Die BabyOh, wait–
No, no NSA, nothing to worry about, merp here is just German and saying, “The Baby The.”
Nobody who speaks German can be an evil man.
Hard Ba-*transmission terminated*
Look Who’s Dying Hard.
Look Who’s Dying Hard Too: LOST IN NEW YORK!
[Don LaFontaine voice] “With Bruce Willis as the voice of Mikey.”
His mother was NOT happy.
So no one else’s mind went to that one Moonlighting episode on this? I’m old.
I know Bruce Willis is cynical enough to poop on the legacy of his own franchise and cash the check, but at this point I really want him to do commercials instead.
Seagrams Golden Wine Coolers commercials, perhaps?
Yes, use that de aging technology and call it a retro ad.
Seagram’s Wine Coolers are in need of a comeback!
Formerly known as Die Hard: Year One, all eyes have been on what the prequel will be about, and who will take on the role of a younger John McClane. Fast-forward two years later, and McClane director Len Wiseman tells /Film that Bruce Willis will star in the filmJust stop right there. No other analysis is needed. This film will be garbage, because Len Wiseman has only ever made garbage.
Everyone knows John McClane was a regular cop in the original Die Hard film. What this script presupposes is – maybe he wasn’t?
BBoy, Joe Kinneman must be pissed.
John McTiernan.The original director. And the director of, IMHO, the best sequel — “Die Hard with a Vengeance”. He’s out of prison, he’s got bills to pay. If he were helming this, I would be excited.
Shane Black.Didn’t write the original but he knows what made 80s action films special and if he were writing and directing this, I would be excited.Who would I not be excited about? The director who’s already made a really bad Die Hard movie.
The fourth Die Hard is the best reviewed of all the sequels. It also made the most money and had strong exit poll scores from audiences.
Sounds terrible
Len Wiseman is directing?Nope that’s it, it’s going to be trash.
Chief?
Sorry but many errors here. Die Hard 2 and 3 actually received fairly poor critical reviews upon their initial releases. With many years to grow in stature they still only have 68 and 54 on Rotten Tomatoes. The fourth film is the best-reviewed of the sequels which is ironic given the fanboy hate for it because of its pg-13 rating. There was never a fifth sequel as you reference (you meant to say fourth sequel or fifth film I’m assuming).
Hi, John. Thank you very much for your criticisms. I’m totally okay with that. In response to Die Hard 2 and 3’s RT ratings, I agree that a 54 (barely rotten on the tomato meter) can be considered a somewhat poor response, however, a 68 is fairly fresh. I didn’t say that those films were highly praised just that they were in relatively good standing (unlike A Good Day to Die Hard which currently sits at 14%). As for calling McClane the fifth sequel, according Wiseman, he wants to include a reunion of past characters. So, in my opinion, in order to do so means the film will probably jump around in time – including perhaps present day – making part of the film a sequel or requel. Very little is known about the film at this point.
There is a little bit of chatter coming out on “McClane”.. .http://www.manlymovie.net/2019/01/news-rambo-5-die-hard-6.html
There may be a new sherriff in town… https://moviehole.net/actor-sandes-wants-to-play-john-mcclane-in-prequel/
My guess is that they will make use of flashbacks. Half the movie will take place in the present. Mclane vs some arch villian. Half the movie will tell you why the villian hates McLane so much