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.
——
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.
——
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)
Posted by Chud Mobile for iPhone
I honestly have no problems with Die Hard 4, and don’t understand the disdain people have for it beyond “WAAAAH. McCLAINE DIDN’T SAY FUCK!!!!!” It was a fun, ridiculous action film, and that’s why I enjoyed it so much.
Having said that, this sounds like a pretty terrible idea. But who knows? I was also pretty negative about “Live Free or Die Hard” before seeing it as well.
Yeah, it wa
Yeah, it was a little awkward in some chopped-up scenes where the actors’ mouths didn’t match the audio (so they could edit out the cussin’), but I was OK with Live Free. I hear the DC is better, but since the Blu-Ray is Theatrical only, I just don’t know (and seriously, how does that happen? Extended cut on DVD but NOT on the medium that holds five times the capacity? C’Mon, FOX…).
Also, no idea what happened to my first post attempt up there. Must’ve been Timothy Olyphant hacking in to the network…
The only complaint I ever had with Die Hard 4 is that it was more like True Lies 2. The original Die Hard was so tightly enclosed and the action, as a result, was personal. There were no ridiculously overwhelming feats that went against the laws of physics. DH4 built to big-scale action pieces, like the obvious jet fighter scene, which seemed beyond the abilities of the guy we met back in ’88 at Nakatomi Plaza. But for what it was, I enjoyed it tremendously. If Bruce was playing a guy not named McClane, I think people would have liked it a lot more.
And Kevin Smith. As always, a blight on anything he touches.
I haven’t seen the fourth Die Hard, mainly because I find myself in agreement with the folks who gave it generally poor reviews and I wanted to spare myself the frustration. I think one of the problems people had with the fourth film (based on what I read) wasn’t the film’s rating. It was that McClane went from being a average Joe kind of tough guy to what ends up being an unstoppable superhero. I’m sure some of that is due to the fact that the script for the fourth film was based on a screenplay for a different movie.
To be fair, though, the Die Hard films have a history of being based on material that is reshaped to fit the series. The first was based on a novel by Roderick Thorpe that was a sequel to his earlier book The Detective. The second was based on a novel by Walter Wager that likewise didn’t feature John McClane. Die Hard with a Vengeance was also based on an original screenplay called Simon Says that the producers decided to retrofit into a Die Hard film. In other words, any weaknesses can’t really be blamed on that but on how successful the writers were at doing it.
Also, I thought Live Free… was a fun bit of fluff but not nearly as good as the three previous movies in the series.
In that vein, Tears of the Sun was orginally meant as a Die Hard sequel. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314353/trivia
What the fuck is with that poster up top? Ronald McDonald lose his shoes in a sea of white Doritos?
Not to mention it carries the implication that McDonald McClane took his shoes off to brave the sea of glass, which is bullshit. Any fan worth his salt knows he was making fist with his toes when shit hit the fan.
/nerd rant
I say, bring it on! In my opinion, part 4 was not as bad as part 2 (that movie being the worst in the series). Overall, the series is consistent in the action and humor combination. Even part 2 being the worst in the series, as a movie, was better than Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. While Die Hard 4 had the potential to jump the shark in the EPIC way that Indy 4 did, it didn’t.
Sure the villain’s plot was over the top and all aspects of the plot (especially the three energy hubs sub-plot) were innacurate, but that is why it is a popcorn movie. Think about it though, each movie has raised the stakes consistently. In part 1, he is in a building saving a limited number of hostages and stopping a robbery. In part 2, he is saving thousands of people in airplanes and on the ground and stopping a dictator from retaking power in a small country. In part 3, he stops a major robbery and major casualities in NYC. Where is the logical place to go in part 4? Have McClane stop a complete shut down of the U.S. OK, now McClane has stopped terrorist plots in LA, DC, NY and DC/the whole U.S. again. Where to now? Obviously take it International, bring him to Russia. It makes perfect sense. Can’t you imagine McClane’s attitude in Russia stuck in the 80′s…he would be calling all of the people Reds (no pun intended), Ruskies, or Commies. It could work.
And if that works, they might do part 6, with McClane going on some globe trotting adventure.
I do agree with Renn, I do think that they should bring back Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Why bother pulling the son in? If they do, they will have to write him in as a cop or some kind of law enforcement, which would be predictable.
Arguments over the “quality” of DIE HARD 4 is as useful as sweating over why Fox ever made a second one: not at all. The suits will keep makin’ em and the mouth breathers will keep showing up. Who cares? McClane is not interesting enough a character to merit so much as my time writing this post so
Seriously, Jonah Hill looks sickly as fuck in that link you posted, Renn. Should we send him a card or a fruit basket or something.
My problem with DH4 is that it’s too cartoony to fit with the rest of the series. That fucking scene with the car flying up into the helicopter . . . ugh. It’s not just that he make a car jump up into the air (impossible) high enough to hit the helicopter (also impossible), but that THAT WAS HIS PLAN ALL ALONG (completely fucking absurd).
I usually don’t point out spelling errors, but you might want to correct Attack the Black
…and I usually fix ‘em quick, but that one’s almost good enough to leave be! Thanks.
No problem. As far as the article is concerned, a 5th Die Hard movie is stupid and non essential, and just goes to show how creatively bankrupt the Hollywood System is, but I guess if it needed to be done, I pick Joe Carnahan as director, he sure turned the A-Team into something enjoyable. Just for chrissakes, make it R Rated this time, if only to shut up the fanboys out there.
Die Hard in Space!
Posted by Chud Mobile for iPhone
Hitting the helicopter in DH4 was lifted straight out of the 3-in-1 Die Hard videogame. The third movie portion of the game was driving the cab and in the final level you hit a jump to take out the helicopter (instead of the way that movie really ended). Anyway, DH4 was a steaming turd.