Looks like it’s time to pull a Crystal Skull and simultaneously drag the Die Hard franchise out farther than it ever should have gone, while simultaneously introducing a potential young replacement hero that nobody wants! At least, that the impression this overly snarky gentleman gets when Twitch reports news that workman director John Moore will be grabbing the reigns of the film for Fox, and that the film will have McClane and his son in Russia when some shit of some kind goes down. Many henchdudes will die, and some cheeky, pandering reference to the first film will be made in a PG-13 fashion.
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UPDATE: Turns out John Moore still has a short-list full of other directors that he has to compete with. According to Deadline (via Collider) that includes Justin Lin (too busy, unlikely), as well as Nicholas Refn (Bronson, Drive) and Joe Cornish (Attack The Block). Both of those later suggestions are just… frightening. There aren’t many things I’d rather those guys not be doing than a fourth Die Hard sequel for Fox- this shit’s only a few steps above a vanity project and both of them are far, far better than that. I’ve said for months that Cornish would be on these kinds of shortlists sooner rather than later, but if he’s keen on a big-budget debut, I hope he holds out for a better franchise than this. Refn’s been in that position for a while now, and I hope the same for him.
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While John McClane Jr. pops up as a kid in the first film and is obliquely referenced in Live Free of Die Hard, he’s not been a featured character, and will apparently go through his action adventure training with Pop somewhere in Mother Russia. This may include hopping from jet to jet, or quashing hacking terrorists with cutely named, impossible world-takeover schemes.
You may have detected that I’m not a fan of the fourth Die Hard film, in which case, you’d be right. What’s always shocked me is how my disdain is not shared by many that I assume would be in league with me, and since Willis seems determined to run this thing into the ground until he is well and truly creaky, the franchise will continue. If you’re curious about the international flavor of the fifth film, consider that while the 4th only made $130m on a $110m budget, it made another quarter of a billion overseas. “Yippee-ki-yay-mother-explosion” indeed.
HOLLYWOOD Take Note: I will pay to watch this girl kill things forever.
Since it would be somewhat interesting, I’m not surprised Fox is ignoring the obvious option of having McClane’s daughter join him on his adventure, opening up the possibility of bringing Mary Elizabeth Winstead back into the picture, well after she’s earned some action chops (Scott Pilgrim, The Thing). Considering she’s already murdered a dude at a climactic moment, faced a terrorist, and come around on her estranged father, I’d much rather see her kick more ass than another Justin Long type come in to illicit eye-rolls from John Sr.
Oh well, maybe they’ll nab Jonah Hill for that role– he’s in shape these days.
Do you care to see another Die Hard? Any optimism they’ll make it less… whatever it was that Live Free or Die Hard is? Twitter, comments, boards — hit ’em!
(via JoBlo)