The DIE HARD franchise has been a fan favorite since the first film was released in 1988, consequently catapulting its star Bruce Willis into the public eye. Two sequels were released, the first in 1990 and the second in 1995. But that wasn’t enough for ol’ John McClane though and, after a twelve year break from the franchise, another sequel came out in the form of the ultra-neutered LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD.
Now it seems that he might be coming back again, and a writer has been hired to make this happen.
Twentieth Century Fox has brought on screenwriter Skip Woods to pen the next outing for McClane. Woods is probably best known for being the writer of SWORDFISH and the upcoming summer flick THE A-TEAM. This new film will most likely see John McClane solving a worldwide crisis.
I guess the next bit of news everyone is curious about is what it will be rated. I’m pretty positive common consensus will be that the PG-13 LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD didn’t really work and was very lame. Not to mention that it was a great film, as long as you watch the unrated version that was released to home video.
As for now, I’m really excited about this film. Let’s just hope that a possible return to a PG-13 rating doesn’t kill all the excitement, because it certainly would for me.
John Mulhern Writes 
I'm glad the homevid version of DH4 gives us the unrated option, but I disagree that the changes made to obtain the PG-13 rating reduced a “great film” to something “very lame.” Care to defend your assessment, John?
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I would love to!See, if LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD would have been the first in a franchise, then it probably wouldn't have been much of a problem. But since cursing and blood and other R rated content had been part of the franchise for the 19 years it had existed, it didn't feel DIE HARD.I don't think I need to delve into “Yippie-kai-yay Mother gunshot.” Honestly, I think they would have been better off leaving that out. It is the one moment that many people were waiting for and it was squandered due to the MPAA rating. DIE HARD is one of my favorite action films ever made, and that line was the one thing that I thought they couldn't mess up with this film.I think that a big part of this stems from the fact that the film wasn't filmed as PG-13, and was edited to get that rating in post. I appreciate that they were trying to reach a broader audience, and I honestly hope it worked. In the end, when you compare the theatrical cut to the unrated cut and see the film as it was intended to be I think that the theatrical cut doesn't compare. It may be subtle, but to me it's enough.
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I'm glad the homevid version of DH4 gives us the unrated option, but I disagree that the changes made to obtain the PG-13 rating reduced a “great film” to something “very lame.” Care to defend your assessment, John?
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I would love to!See, if LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD would have been the first in a franchise, then it probably wouldn't have been much of a problem. But since cursing and blood and other R rated content had been part of the franchise for the 19 years it had existed, it didn't feel DIE HARD.I don't think I need to delve into “Yippie-kai-yay Mother gunshot.” Honestly, I think they would have been better off leaving that out. It is the one moment that many people were waiting for and it was squandered due to the MPAA rating. DIE HARD is one of my favorite action films ever made, and that line was the one thing that I thought they couldn't mess up with this film.I think that a big part of this stems from the fact that the film wasn't filmed as PG-13, and was edited to get that rating in post. I appreciate that they were trying to reach a broader audience, and I honestly hope it worked. In the end, when you compare the theatrical cut to the unrated cut and see the film as it was intended to be I think that the theatrical cut doesn't compare. It may be subtle, but to me it's enough.
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