30 years on from Die Hard and the NYPD’s finest, John McClane, still has plenty of juice in the tank. The cop-vs-terrorists action saga is set to continue in an upcoming sixth film, simultaneously following Bruce Willis as a 60-year-old McClane and a younger incarnation of McClane in his 20s. And while the project has long been rumoured to be called Die Hard: Year One, the script has a different, cleaner title: McClane.
“You can tell our intention by the fact that the title page we handed in says, ‘McCLANE’,” producer Lorenzo diBonaventura told Empire. “We want you to get invested in John McClane more than ever before.” He added that, despite rumours that the prequel section would take up more of the runtime, the sequel-prequel approach will feature Bruce Willis just as much as his younger incarnation. “I don’t know how you do Die Hard without Bruce,” he said. “The idea that he’s not very significant in this movie is not accurate at all. We are gonna explore John McClane in his twenties. But just as prominent is the 60-year-old version.”
With the script handed in to the studio in July and Len Wiseman on to direct, expect the project to gear up in the coming months. In the meantime, pick up Empire’s Ultimate Autumn Preview issue to read the ultimate guide to the original classic Die Hard, with director John McTiernan and writers Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza talking through every major moment. The issue hits newsttands on Thursday 6 September.
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