In addition to each movie in the Die Hard franchise getting a bit more ridiculous as time goes on, the titles have done the same. While it started normal enough with the first two movies - Die Hard and Die Hard 2 - the third movie got a little more creative, going with Die Hard: With a Vengeance. Next, while it was originally going to be called Die Hard 4.0, the studio ended up naming the third sequel Live Free or Die Hard. Now the fifth movie in the series has followed suit with a crazy title of its own.
20th Century Fox has announced that the next adventure of Bruce Willis' John McClane, directed by John Moore, will be called A Good Day To Die Hard and will be released on February 14, 2013, according to Deadline. The theater launch is an interesting break with tradition, as all of the other Die Hard movies have been released during the summer months (the earliest one was Die Hard: With a Vengeance, which landed on May 19, 1995. The move is an interesting one, as the studio does not yet have any movies set to come out during the May-August stretch in 2013.
Slash Film has also apparently learned a few story details, as Tom Rothman, CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, stopped by the Jim Rome show today to talk about the movie. Apparently the plot will revolve around McClane traveling to Moscow to bail his son out of prison. After the hero gets there, however, he begins to realize that the circumstances surrounding the arrest are a bit suspect. The role of the son has not yet been cast and it's unknown if the movie will be rated PG-13 or R.
Compounded with the Die Hard news is also a series of other release date announcements:
- Taken 2, the sequel to the hit Liam Neeson revenge flick from 2009, will come out on October 5, 2012
- Men &a Mavericks, the surf drama directed by Curtis Hanson and starring Gerard Butler (formally just known as Mavericks) will arrive on October 26, 2012
- The comedy Parental Guidance, with Bill Crystal and Bette Midler, will hit theaters on November 21, 2012
- The sequel to Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, titled Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, will bow on March 27, 2013
- Walking With The Dinosaurs, which was originally going to debut on December 20, 2013, has been moved to October 11, 2013
In some ways it's understandable why Fox would want to avoid summer 2013, as it's actually already a really crowded field. Major titles like Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, Pacific Rim, Oblivion, Monsters University, Fast and Furious 6 and many others have already staked their claim and releasing in February will give the movie the chance to own the box office for multiple weekends instead of being one-and-done. Shame we have to wait two years to see if their plan works out.
