You've gotta love Hollywood pitches.

There's an old saying that if you can't pitch your story in the time it takes in an elevator, it's not worth making. However, one writer / producer's jumped the gun entirely and taken out an entire page in the print version of industry stalwart The Hollywood Reporter.

Eric D. Wilkinson, whose IMDb credits reads like a one-star Netflix filter, pitched his idea for the proposed Die Hard prequel to director Len Wiseman, producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and John McClane himself, Bruce Willis. Wilkinson's pitch, which you can see below, actually doesn't sound all that terrible.

The pitch sees a 24-year old McClane in 1979 investigating the murder of a six-year old boy. McClane's investigation leads him to a sex trafficker called Clarence Sutton, who mysteriously vanishes just as McClane's about to make the arrest. McClane, being McClane, butts heads with his superior and finds himself assigned to New York's bleakest division.

Flash-forward to thirty-four years later and McClane, on his way back from Russia following A Good Day To Die Hard, is now indicted for the murder of Clarence Sutton. It also turns out that Sutton was involved in the murder / disappearance of the six-year old boy as well.

Here, as they say, is where the plot thickens. McClane is tried and sentenced to thirty years in ADX Florence, a supermax prison which is also home to two Arab terrorists who committed the worst terrorist attack on American soil. McClane's wife, Holly Genarro-McClane, uncovers new evidence that exonerates him from the murder.

Not only that, his superior from years ago actually FRAMED McClane for the murder. So, just as Holly's going to the prison to meet McClane to give him the news, a riot breaks out that sees hostages taken. However, because this is Die Hard, this is all subterfuge for a plot by those two Arab terrorists to plan another attack in New York.

The pitch, called Die Hard: Year One, does have some nice throwbacks to the original and would act as a nice counterbalance to the over-the-top action of A Good Day To Die Hard and Die Hard 4.0. (or Live Free Or Die Hard, if you're in 'Murica). Whether this pitch will see the light of day is, we think, unlikely.

It's very possible that the producers already have a script in place, but to be honest, we're not holding out much hope for the Die Hard prequel. The two previous films were so mediocre / terrible that it's just ruined the whole franchise for us. What do you make of it? Could you see a Die Hard film like this working? Let us know in the comments!

 

Via Twitter / THR