Many remain ambivalent regarding the news of another Die Hard entry being officially greenlit. I have sincerely got nothing but love for the franchise and although I think Die Hard 4.0 / Live Free or Die Hard suffered from being artificially squeezed into a more “friendly” rating/certificate, it was still a welcome and commendable addition to the canon.
Now that A Good Day to Die Hard has a writer and director and release date (John Moore, Skip Woods, 14th February 2013), casting is apparently beginning in earnest for the key role of McClane junior.
Having had Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lucy McClane in the last entry, John’s son is to be a key character this time around. The good news is that it doesn’t need to be a teenager or a younger child, given that the McClane progeny are all grown up now, so we are apparently looking at people like Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad, M:I-3), Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood) and Ben Foster (Alpha Dog, Hostage, 30 Days of Night). Those names have been plucked from nowhere by the way; there has been no official call list for auditions yet, just hearsay.
As is well-known, Bruce Willis is maintaining a close watch on the development of the film and will be reading with those auditioning for the part, no doubt having a significant say in who the gig finally goes to. Variety intimate that the role may have the potential to develop into a take-over of the franchise a la Jeremy Renner in Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol or Shia TheBeef in Indy 5. Whether that means the search will be on for someone with a certain muscular physicality for the role of John Jr, we will have to see.
Source: I just said it. Variety.
