Wiseman Says “Die Hard 4?”
Yippee-ki-yay, Len Wiseman?
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the director of the fantasy-horror thriller Underworld and its sequel, Underworld: Evolution, is in talks to take the helm of Die Hard: 4 for 20th Century Fox.
Bruce Willis is once again set to reprise his role as wise-cracking New York cop John McClane, stuck in yet another impossible situation. This time around, the plot will find our aging tough-as-nails action hero coming out of retirement to battle terrorist baddies looking to wreak havoc on the Internet.
The script, written by Mark Bomback and Doug Richardson, was originally called Die Hard 4.0, but is expected to receive a new title in the vein of the third installment, 1995’s Die Hard With A Vengeance.
Per the trade, producer Arnold Rifkin was looking for up-and-coming talent to revive the franchise and Wiseman fit the bill, having made his directing debut with 2003’s stylish Underworld, which told the nightmarish tale of a war between vampires and werewolves. Both the film and its follow-up starred Kate Beckinsale, whom Wiseman married.
A rep for Fox was unavailable to comment on the report and there’s no word on additional casting yet. The studio has remained tightlipped about development on Die Hard 4 since the project was first revealed back in 2002.
For his part, the 51-year-old Willis previously vowed never to do another sequel, jokingly asking during media interviews for the last chapter how much misery McClane can take as he gets himself mixed up with one diabolical criminal conspiracy after another.
1988’s Die Hard, directed by John McTiernan and considered one of the defining action movies of the ’80s, saw the character take on terrorist mastermind, Hans Gruber ( Alan Rickman), and stop him from robbing the vaults of a Japanese corporation in a Los Angeles skyscraper.
1990’s sequel, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, helmed by Renny Harlin, saw McClane foiling a plot by mercenaries to take over an airport to free a drug dealer.
And finally, Die Hard With a Vengeance, with McTiernan at the reigns again, put McClane in a cat-and-mouse game with Gruber’s bomber brother, Simon, around New York as he attempts to rob the federal bank.
All told, the combined worldwide gross of all three films have topped $1 billion, not including millions more raked in from video and DVD sales.
If all goes well, Die Hard 4 could hit the big screen by summer 2007.
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