Noam Murro Out as Director of Die Hard 5; John McClane Going to Russia?
Posted 08.01.11 by BrentJS
Live Free or Die Hard (LFODH) was both a hit at the box office and with critics so it's no wonder that Twentieth Century Fox has a sequel in the works. However, it's been really slow going on Die Hard 5 (working title) so far. Fox hired Skip Woods (The A-Team) to write the screenplay, but the studio apparently had problems with early drafts and asked Woods to go "back to the drawing board." Then, despite series star Bruce Willis' desire to see LFODH director Len Wiseman return to helm the sequel, Fox hired Noam Murro (Smart People) instead. Now, Twitch has reported that Murro's work on the sequel to 300, 300: Battle of Artemisia (formerly Xerxes), has forced him to drop out as director of Die Hard 5. According to Twitch, the director's chair is now John Moore's (Max Payne) "to take or leave."
It's still unclear exactly what John McClane (Willis) will be up against in the sequel, but, if Twitch's sources can be believed, it appears as if Woods took a cue from Willis when writing the script. Back in February of last year, Willis said that his "contribution" to the franchise would be for it to "go worldwide." According to Twitch, Die Hard 5 will be "set largely in Russia," with McClane and his son getting "drawn into a conflict with local forces." This seems to run counter to the rumor that one of the Gruber clan — McClane spoiled Hans Gruber's (Alan Rickman) plans in Die Hard and Simon Gruber (Jeremy Irons) sought revenge on McClane for his brother's death in Die Hard with a Vengeance — would be the villain in Die Hard 5 considering the Grubers are German, not Russian, and have previously been motivated by money (Hans) and revenge (Simon) rather than politics. However, considering neither the Gruber scenario nor the Russian scenario have been confirmed, anything is possible at this point.
It should be noted that Willis is not formally signed on to star in Die Hard 5 as of yet. This is likely only a matter of getting the script, director and his fee locked down, as Willis has spoken about his desire to continue the franchise on numerous occasions, saying that he takes "a certain amount of pride in being part" of the mythology that has grown out of the series.