Ok, so you can forget what we wrote a couple of hours ago.
Deadline has confirmed that
Noam Munro, who helmed the 2008 drama Smart People - will officially direct
Die Hard 5, which despite what we've heard otherwise, is racing towards production this year based on a screenplay by Skip Woods (Swordfish, The A-Team). Munro is said to have impressed Fox with his work on the commercials for Halo Reach. You can see them
HERE. Whether
Bruce Willis, who it was said had been the one interviewing potential helmers, is the man who ultimately got Munro the gig, is anyone's guess. I enjoyed the Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page & Thomas Haden Church dramedy Smart People, but not a single frame does it suggest he's the right man for Die Hard 5. Let's just hope he's not a director for hire for Willis to bully with like he did Len Wiseman (who was inept for the franchise anyway) and please, please, please - have a decent and fully realised R-Rated script before rolling this time. ORIGINAL ARTICLE FOLLOWS... Initial plans for a
Die Hard 5 to shoot this year for a release in 2012 were scuppered in the fall when when writer Skip Woods (Swordfish, The A-Team, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) lived up to his CV by turning in a draft so awful, not even 20th Century Fox, responsible for greenlighting The A-Team, would go anywhere near it. Since then, loosely attached director Len Wiseman (brought back from Live Free or Die Hard) has moved on to
a remake of Total Recall, and star
Bruce Willis has also found work elsewhere, most recently it seems in the Stephen Frears gambling thriller Lay The Favourite alongside Rebecca Hall, a movie which
he has now entered talks to star. However it's clear Fox and Willis still want John McClane to return for a fifth film in his fourth different decade and reports are emerging that Willis is so determined to go Yippie Kay Ya again that he's taken it upon himself to personally find a director for the project, going so far as interviewing potential candidates who he thinks can bring some much needed life back to the series. Top of Willis' list is said to be Swedish-born helmer
Daniel Espinosa, who impressed Hollywood execs with his film Snabba Cash and at one point was being eyed by Fox to helm Wolverine 2. Espinosa is busying himself right now with his own action thriller
Safe House, which Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington will lead when filming begins next week and as Die Hard 5 doesn't yet have a screenwriter or a script at this point, Willis may be looking to secure his signature for a shoot in the fall/early 2012. Safe House marks Espinosa's first Hollywood movie and Willis is probably drawn to his hunger and ambition to make a name for himself in America, and the unusual choice excites us quite a bit. Here's a trailer to Snabba Cash; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfHkGBywm_I Vulture don't name who else Willis is eying but we can't help but think
Tony Scott's name might come up at some point. The studio veteran, who most recently
was talking to Fox about helming a Kiefer Sutherland-led 24 movie, seems a perfect fit to take Die Hard to the next level. We also wouldn't be overly surprised if Fox, who are having problems with getting both films off the ground, decided to make a movie that combines Jack Bauer and John McClane and we are pretty sure conversations over the idea have taken over the years. As, no doubt, will have been a discussion of once again involving
a Gruber family member as a villain.