Last week, word spread that director Len Wiseman and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura had sold 20th Century Fox on the concept of a Die Hard prequel to explore John McClane’s younger years. While the news was not greeted, shall we say, with a wave of positivity, one person seems pretty perky about the idea: Bruce Willis.
Interviewed by Entertainment Tonight, Willis, the man who will be forever known as at least the original John McClane (but not the original John McClane now, because that will be whoever they hire to play him as a cop in 1970s New York), gave an upbeat reply. "It's a very good idea, a really tricky idea, and I'm very happy about it," he said. "It's a really cool idea, because it's the origin story. We're going to bounce back and forth."
As previously reported, the concept involves Willis returning in some capacity to bookend or interject scenes with McClane as he is now, the veteran of vanquishing a variety of terrorist types at home and abroad. So that means at least the basic premise has his stamp of approval. No one mention that he also gave it to A Good Day To Die Hard… And as for who might play the fresh-faced McClane? “We're not there yet," admits Willis, who is looking to produce the new movie. "Hopefully he's got a hard head." Thick skin might be handy, too.
It’s still early days on this one, with Wiseman and co. busy finding a writer to take on the job.