With the ancient Sinatra out of the way and Schwarzenegger having turned down the role, Twentieth Century Fox was desperate to find a big star to play the lead in what was now being called Die Hard. They wanted to get a big name who could jumpstart the action franchise they envisioned. Director John McTiernan and Fox studio executives put together a short list of actors who they thought would make an excellent John McClane
Die Hard Director John McTiernan
Fox began wooing a who’s who of big name action stars for the role. Fox worked its way down the list, but they shockingly kept getting rejected. Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone, Richard Gere, Burt Reynolds, Don Johnson and Harrison Ford all turned down the role. Twentieth Century Fox was desperate- why were all these actors turning down the role? There was a fear that the project was dying before it even had a chance. They did have one actor who was interested, but neither McTiernan nor Fox was seriously considering him. That actor was Bruce Willis.
Up until then, the only film that Bruce Willis had a starring role in the modest hit Blind Date, whose success probably had more to do with its director Blake Edwards than with Bruce himself. He was best known for co-starring with Cybill Shepherd in the gigantic hit Moonlighting, but that was a talky television show, not a big screen action hit.
Bruce, however, had bigger aspirations and he felt that Die Hard would get him where he wanted to go. If only he could convince McTiernan and Twentieth Century Fox. Bruce was a hot commodity at the time, but was he right for a blockbuster film? Fox turned to Hollywood consultants CinemaScore to see if their research could predict Bruce Willis’ potential. They believed that he would be an excellent choice, provided that the marketing focused more on the action than him. This convinced both Fox and McTiernan. Despite its initial hesitance, Fox offered Bruce Willis a staggering salary. This project had to progress quickly and Willis would need to juggle both Die Hard and Moonlighting. The high salary, criticized at the time, was seen as being necessary to keep things rolling. Die Hard now had its John McClane.
