The "Die Hard" series is sort of akin to Nickelback or the Dave Matthews Band. No one admits to listening to these bands, but clearly someone is buying their music. Likewise, the "Die Hard" franchise has been pretty much irrelevant since the second film (which wasn't very good either), but still, the series has grossed $1.1 billion worldwide so far. However, even domestically the films are hardly gigantic money draws. The highest grossing "Die Hard" film to date is "Live Free or Die Hard," which earned $134 million in 2007, but coupled with the international markets, this is apparently still enough to keep the series going (domestically the series has grossed $435 million so far).
A fifth installment, "A Good Day To Die Hard," is due next month, and it looks like, well, another "Die Hard" film. Perhaps the one difference is that Willis has a son (played by Aussie Jai Courtney) and the series could ostensibly position itself on handing over the mantle to him one day. But old habits, er, die hard, and like "Mission: Impossible" and "Indiana Jones," rather than actively hand over the series to a younger player, these films go the sitcom route and introduce a new child character who's a thorn in the parents' side. But what do we know? Clearly some people are going to turn out in droves for this one. It just might not be us or our audience (stranger things have happened though).
Directed by John Moore ("Behind Enemy Lines"), this fifth film in the franchise stars Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch, Yulia Snigir, Cole Hauser, Amaury Nolasco, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Anne Vyalitsyna, and opens in IMAX (and conventional theaters too) on February 14.
