Live Free or Die Hard, 2007, Bruce Willis, Maggie Q, Justin Long
Live Free or Die Hard (released as Die Hard 4.0 outside North America) is the fourth installment in the Die Hard film series. It stars veteran actor Bruce Willis as John McClane, the hero of the first three films. The film takes place some 19 years after the first film, and sees McClane face a gang of Virtual Terrorists. The film's American and Canadian release date was June 27, 2007. The film was based on the 1997 article A Farewell to Arms written for Wired magazine by John Carlin.
Len Wiseman, best known for his work on Underworld and Underworld: Evolution, was announced as the director. In an August 3, 2006 interview in USA Today, Wiseman said none of the characters (McClane excluded) from the earlier movies would be returning. It was previously believed that John McTiernan, the director of the original Die Hard and Die Hard with a Vengeance, would return to direct, however, he is currently facing jail time for perjury.
McClane's daughter has a prominent role in the film (an idea previously considered for Die Hard with a Vengeance; and the idea implemented in the video game Die Hard: Vendetta). It was speculated that Bruce Willis' real life daughter Rumer, who was born the same year that the original Die Hard was released, was a prime candidate for the part of Lucy McClane. Jessica Simpson, Wafah Dufour and Britney Spears had previously auditioned for the role; Paris Hilton had been considered for the role, as had Taylor Fry, who played Lucy in the original Die Hard movie in 1988. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was eventually cast in the role of Lucy McClane in this sequel.
The film's plot is based on an earlier script entitled WW3.com by David Marconi, screenwriter of Enemy of the State. Using a Wired article entitled "A Farewell to Arms" by John Carlin, Marconi crafted a screenplay about a cyber-terrorist attack on the U.S. After the 9-11 attacks, the project was stalled, only to be resurrected several years later and rewritten into Live Free or Die Hard by Doug Richardson and eventually by Mark Bomback.
Willis said in 2005 that the film would be called Die Hard 4.0, as it revolves around computers. IGN later reported the film was to be called Die Hard: Reset instead. 20th Century Fox later announced the title as Live Free or Die Hard and set a release date of June 29, 2007 with filming to begin in September 2006. The title is based on the state motto of New Hampshire, "Live Free or Die," which is attributed to a quote from General John Stark. International trailers use the Die Hard 4.0 title, as the film was released outside America with that title, most likely because international audiences would be unlikely to recognize the New Hampshire motto reference.
Filming for Live Free or Die Hard started in downtown Baltimore, Maryland on September 23, 2006. Willis was injured January 24, 2007 during a fight scene, where he was kicked above his right eye. The injury was regarded as "no big deal" and Willis saw a doctor and went home for the rest of the day.
Bruce Willis' stunt double, Larry Rippenkroeger, was seriously injured when he fell twenty-five feet to the pavement. He suffered broken bones in his face and fractures in both wrists. Production was temporarily shut down. Willis picked up the tab at area hotels for Rippenkroeger's parents and visited him a number of times at the hospital. Rippenkroeger also doubles for James Caan in his TV series, Las Vegas. Wikipedia
