Die Hard
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 Die Hard facts

• de Souza and Jeb Stuart
• It follows off-duty New York City Police Department officer John McClane (Bruce Willis) as he takes on a group of highly organized criminals led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who perform a heist in a Los Angeles skyscraper under the guise of a terrorist attack using hostages, including McClane's wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), to keep the police at bay
• It is based on Roderick Thorp's 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever, the sequel to 1966's The Detective, which was adapted into a 1968 film of the same name that starred Frank Sinatra
• Fox was therefore contractually obligated to offer Sinatra the lead role in Die Hard, but he turned it down
• The studio then pitched the film to Arnold Schwarzenegger as a sequel to his 1985 action film Commando; he turned it down, as well, and the studio finally and reluctantly gave it to Willis, then known primarily as a comedic television actor
• Made for $28 million, Die Hard grossed over $140 million theatrically worldwide, and was given a positive reception from critics
• The film turned Willis into an action star, became a metonym for an action film in which a lone hero fights overwhelming odds, and has been named one of the best action movies ever made
• The film also ranks #29 on Empire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time
• The film's success spawned the Die Hard franchise, which includes four sequels (Die Hard 2, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Live Free or Die Hard and A Good Day to Die Hard), video games, and a comic book