I hope you want more John McClane because you’re getting some!
After an exhaustive search that included film makers such as Noam Murro, Joe Cornish and Justin Lin, it looks like 20th Century Fox and Bruce Willis have decided to hire John Moore to direct DIE HARD 5. Deadline says that Moore won the position because of his enthusiasm and love of the John McClane character. He also convinced the brass that he could helm a non-CGI heavy film with practical stunts and effects. If you’ll remember, LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD was the most effects heavy film in the franchise. Remember McClane running on the wing of a plane and crashing a car into a helicopter? It seems like DIE HARD 5 will be more consistent with the first three films.
Moore is the man behind several standard action films including THE OMEN, MAX PAYNE, FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX and BEHIND ENEMY LINES. None of those films have been big hits but Moore really stands a chance at major exposure with DIE HARD 5. Each movie has brought in a lot of cash, even the okay-but-not-great LIVE FREE which raked in $384 million worldwide.
Will Moore do a good job? Based on his track record, I’d wager that DIE HARD 5 will be enjoyable but ultimately forgettable. A part of me wishes we could have seen Joe Cornish or Justin Lin take on the franchise. Yet another part of me wishes they just wouldn’t make the film at all, considering each successive entry in the series gets weaker. More than anything, I just hope they let McClane say “fuck” again.
Thanks to Deadline for the story.
