Die Hard movies have been a long-enduring franchise that took action to the next level. Bruce Willis, the main star of the films, cemented his career in Hollywood by portraying John McClane. The success of the first movie spawned several sequels, one of which became the talk of the town.
In 1994, Sandra Bullock’s Speed arrived in theaters, which also starred Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Joe Morton, and Jeff Daniels. The movie was a box-office success that warranted the production house to make another sequel. It was the search for the next script that caused a lot of trouble.
Bruce Willis’ Die Hard 3 Almost Had A Different Story
Speed 2 needed a draft that involved a lot of action, car-chasing, explosive scenes, and a whole bunch of terrorists. A script written under the title Dark Territory would have been a perfect match and was originally intended to serve as the second installment. However, it was made and released as the sequel to Under Siege.
The producers needed a new script now that their first choice has been snatched. Guess where they found the answer? The team found the script for Die Hard 3 most fitting for the Speed sequel because it involved the hijacking of a cruise ship. With that already finalized, they released Sandra Bullock’s Speed 2: Cruise Control, which tanked at the box office.
This left Die Hard 3 with no script to work on, but Hollywood proved to be eternally ingenious when it came to recycling ideas. They brought in Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson to bring to life the story that was meant for Lethal Weapon 4.
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Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995) was a victorious feat for the franchise, earning $366 million against a budget of $90 million. According to Brian Cronin via CBR, screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh sold a script entitled Simon Says to 20th Century Fox in 1992. The original screenplay had the same scenes that fans saw in Die Hard 3, except the lead character’s motives remained the same. This allowed Die Hard 3 to create its own narrative for the second half of the film.
Little did fans know that the first Die Hard movie screenplay was also intended for another franchise. It was meant to serve as the sequel to the film Commando, but it ended up starring Bruce Willis and becoming one of the greatest action movies of all time.
Some Interesting Facts About Die Hard 3
Bruce Willis reportedly rejected a number of scripts for Die Hard With a Vengeance because they felt too similar to the first Die Hard films. One of the scripts contained a story about his character fighting off terrorists in the middle of the Caribbean, which the actor thought was quite similar to Under Siege.
Another interesting fact about the third installment was the character of Zeus Carver originally written with actor Laurence Fishburne in mind. He wanted a higher talent fee, and the producer agreed, though no official contract signing was made. In the end, the part eventually went to Samuel L. Jackson.
Die Hard movies are available on Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+.
Source: CBR
