Die Hard: Year One Now Just Called McClane

After the less-than-stellar reception of the previous two entries in the Die Hard franchise, it was clear something had to change. And so, Die Hard 6 was envisioned as a unique prequel/sequel hybrid, with a split-narrative featuring Bruce Willis’ John McClane dealing with an incident that harkens back to his early days as a cop, and with a younger actor portraying the 20-something McClane in extended flashback sequences.

Originally the film’s working title was Die Hard: Year One, a savvy reference to the seminal Frank Miller/David Mazzuchelli graphic novel Batman: Year One, which aptly told a revised, character-centric origin story for the dark knight. Now, however, it appears the flick has a new title. According to producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura: “You can tell our intention by the fact that the title page we handed in says McClane.”

“We want you to get invested in John McClane more than ever before,” Bonaventura told Empire magazine, “We are gonna explore John McClane in his twenties. But just as prominent is the 60-year-old version.”

The script for the now-titled McClane was penned by Chad and Carey Hayes (of The Conjuring fame). No release date has yet been set for the next entry in the Die Hard franchise, though a casting announcement for the younger John is expected shortly. Joseph Gordon-Levitt previously played a younger Bruce Willis with the aid of facial prosthesis in director Rian Johnson’s time-travel action-thriller Looper.