Caffeinated Clint
Now this is as exciting as a phone bill stamped ‘Disconnection Notice’.
John Moore, director of 20th Century flops “Max Payne” and “Flight of the Phoenix”, has been charged with the task of reassigning lieutenant John McClane.
Yup, Tom Rothman’s gone from Noam Murro, one of the more interesting choices on the “Die Hard 5 director wishlist”, to in-house get-the-job-done-man Moore.
Now, look, to be fair there was a lot about Moore’s “Behind Enemy Lines” that I enjoyed, and his remake of “The Omen” also has it’s moments, but after the rather slipshod fourth “Die Hard” one might’ve hoped Fox would’ve brought someone in with a bit more cred – to steer the series home and ideally put it back on track (if that’s at all possible after the last sequel). It really is a pity John McTiernan couldn’t do this, if even from his jail cell, or that the studio hadn’t settled on someone cheapish but more apt like Tony Scott (“Crimson Tide”) or, heck, Renny Harlin (who directed “Die Hard 2”) but the decision suggests the movie is merely one Fox wants to pump out quickly and vacuum up the returns from as soon as possible. Money over merit, it makes the world go round.
The new “Die Hard” will apparently see McClane in Russia where he and his son, John Jr (not seen since 1988’s “Die Hard”), get into some sort of trouble with the local crooks. Shit, they just don’t get it do they? The first couple of “Die Hard” films worked so well because they were set in confined spaces (a building, an airport) where McClane didn’t have anything and everything at his disposal (like a fuckin’ jet plane or the director of “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” – as seen in “Die Hard 4”) in his mission to thwart the bad guys. Now if “Die Hard 5” has a touring McClane and son trapped inside an old mine shaft for 120 minutes, where they run into deadly looters, then I might be more sold but you just know this thing is gonna have the newly hairless NYPD cop dashing about on top of the Kremlin and scouring McDonalds looking for someone handy with a grill to help kill the thugs.
Wanna see a “Die Hard” movie? Put the original on.
On a side note, Deadline says Willis – who picks his directors, apparently; he also had a say in which “That 70’s Show” castmember got to bang his ex-wife – is beseeching a director for his “RED” sequel. Breck Eisner, of the mercifully-cancelled “Escape from New York” remake, is mentioned as a possibility.
