Die Hard 6 – Will It Ever Happen?

«A Good Day to Die Hard» failed as a sequel by most measures. While it succeeded in bringing a foul-mouthed, bloody R rating back to the series after the PG-13 «Live Free or Die Hard,» it currently stands as the series’ worst-reviewed and lowest-grossing (in the U.S.) film. And if the intention was to hand the series off from an aging Bruce Willis to Australian action hunk Jai Courtney (as wayward McClane son Jack), it failed in that regard too. But the sequel fared well overseas, and its sloppiness did little to squelch the fan affection, not just for the series but for Willis in what has become his signature role. Two years later, in 2015, series producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura and «Live Free» director Len Wiseman announced a sixth picture, a prequel tentatively titled «Die Hard: Year One.»

But nearly a decade has passed since that announcement was made, and other than renaming the project «McClane,» there has been little forward motion in that time. If the sequel is indeed dead, as di Bonaventura sadly proclaimed in 2021, there is plenty of blame to go around, from ongoing script issues, to the 2019 Disney-Fox merger, and, most recently, Bruce Willis’ frontotemporal dementia diagnosis and retirement from acting.