Bruce Willis Responds to ‘Die Hard’ Fan’s Full-Page THR Ad for New Movie Pitch

Bruce Willis Responds 'Die Hard' Fan's — The mini-mart on Olympic Boulevard where **Reginald VelJohnson** bought Twinkies is now a dry cleaners.

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Bruce Willis has a few words regarding Eric D. Wilkinson’s uniquely-pitched Die Hard idea.

In the Nov. 20 issue of The Hollywood Reporter, the indie film producer and writer took out a full-page ad to pitch his plot suggestion for the action series’ sixth installment, after Fox announced that the near-immortal NYPD cop John McClane would return for a prequel called Die Hard: Year One. Currently in development, the prequel would be set in 1979 and show how McClane became the rough and tumble cop that audiences know. The plan is for Willis to reprise his role of McClane, with a different actor coming in to play the younger version of the character.

However, Wilkinson noted in his ad — addressed to Willis, director Len Wiseman, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura and “the makers of Die Hard” — that the original 1988 film is already an origin story, and instead wondered if the next film could follow a present-day John McClane, as he finds himself in prison after being wrongfully convicted of murder in the death of a sex trafficker. While behind bars, McClane gets caught up in a prison riot masterminded by an unrelated terrorist organization, and somehow, McClane saves the day.

So what does Willis think of this idea for the Die Hard franchise, which has grossed over $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office?

When asked about the page at the Broadway opening of Misery, held Sunday at New York City’s Tao Downtown, Willis had not already read it for himself — he’s been a bit busy in the new staging of the Stephen King novel and Rob Reiner film, in which he plays an injured author held captive by his unhinged “number one fan” when she learns that he plans to kill off her favorite fictional character.

After THR shared a summary of Wilkinson’s pitch, Willis responded, “It seems far away right now,” as the actor’s limited engagement runs through Feb. 14. “I don’t know.”

Still, a brief version of Wilkinson’s idea has made it to the actor’s ears, despite Wilkinson’s doubts. “I’m not going to hear from them,” the Die Hard fan said. “This is going to trend for a couple days, and then I’m going to back to doing what it is that I do.”