The Die Hard films lost a big shot at recovering their glory when John McClane (Bruce Willis) failed to pass the torch to his daughter Lucy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) after Live Free or Die Hard. The Die Hard brand soared to classic action movie status after the success of the first film in 1988. It prospered thanks to the talent of several top-level actors, including Alan Rickman as villain Hans Gruber, as well as the presence of Willis himself.
Die Hard ultimately became a cinematic phenomenon and a Christmas classic; Die Hard 2, the first sequel, exceeded expectations; and Die Hard with a Vengeance found its place among the greatest action movie sequels. But it all started to change 12 years later, when Die Hard 4, aka Live Free or Die Hard was released. The story focused on John McClane's fight against a cyber-terrorist who kidnapped his daughter Lucy, played by Mary Elizebeth Winstead. Although it was the highest-grossing installment in the series, it began to reflect certain signs of franchise fatigue. The movie felt reiterative, and at the same time it felt like it had dropped what made the first one so great.
A Good Day to Die Hard was the last hope for the series, but it failed to deliver. It's widely regarded as the weakest entry in the franchise; the action came off as unrealistic, the audience no longer cared about the constant rain of bullets on the screen, and Jai Courtney as John McClane Jr. was uninspired. However, the decline of the Die Hard franchise could have been halted by a change in command: Lucy McClane as the protagonist instead of John. It's safe to say that nobody will ever replace Bruce Willis, so another mini-John would never come close to his legacy. Instead, Lucy had enough reasons to assume the role of a terrorist-fighter: she was kidnapped, her father had put her on the radar of the world's most dangerous criminals, and both of her parents were in the center of one of the most famous terrorist attacks in the United States.
John McClane's daughter inherited his grit and tenacity. In Die Hard 4, she goes out of her way to help her father in his battle against the cyberterrorists even when she's tied up, giving him clues about the criminals without missing a beat. Lucy could have flipped the series into an innovative but still logical direction as a no-nonsense character, far away from being yet another damsel in distress. This decision would also have made commercial sense due to Mary Elizabeth Winstead's remarkable acting chops, which she has continued to demonstrate throughout the years in films such as 10 Cloverfield Lane, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and with her latest role as The Huntress in Birds of Prey. She could place the stepping stone to a wave of action movie heroines true to the core of the action films from the 80s and 90s, akin to the legendary roles of Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies and Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon.
For now, the only Die Hard project in the works seems to be McClane, a prequel split between the present day and the 1970s, with a young John McClane in his LAPD officer days and based on the Die Hard: Year One graphic novel. Although to many it may sound incompatible with the concept and chronology of the franchise, the project was confirmed to be in development until late 2019, when Disney bought Fox and all of its properties. It's still unclear whether it will go forward, get a drastic makeover, or get scrapped altogether. The future of the franchise is now uncertain, but that doesn't mean it can't bring back the biggest chance that it missed years ago.