The long-rumored sixth installment in the Die Hard series, titled McClane, is officially dead, according to producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. The possibility of a sixth film has been circulating since the fifth film, A Good Day to Die Hard, was released in 2013, despite Bruce Willis previously stating that he wished to retire from the role of John McClane, which he has played since 1988. Numerous versions of the film were floated over the years, including a version titled Old Habits Die Hard. However, none of these plans came to fruition. A television series in the vein of 24 was also considered and would have followed John as a beat cop in the 1970s and have featured narration from Willis as McClane in the present day.
Plans for a prequel film did remain active though, with di Bonaventura's version beginning to gain traction in 2018 at 20th Century Fox. The project would have allegedly involved Willis in the present day alongside a different actor playing a young McClane. The project would also have brought back McClane's ex-wife Holly, and actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead had also stated she was open to returning as McClane's daughter, Lucy. Since Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox, plans had reportedly stalled but fans remained hopeful that McClane would remain active.
That no longer seems to be the case, however. During an interview with Polygon about Snake Eyes' release, di Bonaventura confirmed that his version of McClane is "not happening" as a result of the Disney-Fox merger. The producer didn't rule out the potential of another film or series in the future, adding that he doesn't “know what their plans are,” just that his film is no longer active.
Di Bonaventura did expand on what McClane would have entailed though. He confirmed that it would have been both a prequel and a sequel, noting that “it allowed you the ability to meet the young John McClane and use Bruce [...] you sort of got to see both versions of him” and likened it to The Godfather Part 2. Interestingly, he also added that originally the concept for the sixth Die Hard film didn't start out as such; rather, "it was a project that wasn’t Die Hard that then, eventually, shifted over to Die Hard.”
Utilizing a pre-existing movie script would be nothing new for the Die Hard series. Die Hard 2 was adapted from Walter Wager's novel 58 minutes while Die Hard with a Vengeance started life as an original script until it was modified into a film in the Lethal Weapon franchise before being sold to Fox and becoming the third Die Hard film. As such, re-working another project into McClane would have likely made the film fit perfectly into the franchise, and the fact that it would have been partially a prequel would likely have been the perfect way to write Willis out of the series and introduce a new face for future installments.
It's unclear if Disney has any of their own plans for the Die Hard franchise, but hopefully the series is not dead, even if McClane is. With their recent trend of dipping into Fox's backlog, it would not be surprising to see something down the line. Moreover, a Disney+ series would more than fit into the streaming platform, especially under Star. Fans will just after wait and find out.
Source: Polygon