As we reported a few days ago, a relatively unknown writer made a bold pitch in one of the biggest trade journals in Hollywood for the next Die Hard film.

While we can't summarise it quickly, the film basically sees John McClane incarcerated for a crime he didn't commit. It's worth reading the full pitch over here to get a sense of what it's all about before you read on.

So, naturally enough, the pitch's become a huge talking point and people are already weighing in with their pitches and opinions on the topic.

Chief among them is Mark Millar, one of the most well-known comic book writers and producer of last year's Kingsman: The Secret Service, who came up with a pretty ingenious twist on the whole thing.

As Millar quite rightly pointed out, the initial pitch takes way too long to put McClane in a jail - so how do we speed that up? Simple.

Have McClane arrested as he's getting off a Christmas flight - which is a nice callback to the first Die Hard - by Homeland Security and immediately thrown in prison. Think about it for a second. The past twenty-five years of his life has seen him involved in...

- The attack on the Nakatomi building

- The terrorist incident at Dulles airport

- The bomb-threat to New York City

- Die Hard 4’s cyber-terror threat

- Whatever happened in A Good Day To Die Hard

One, maybe two of these events is strange. But FIVE international terrorist incidents that he's in the middle of? No, that wouldn't happen. So, sure enough, McClane's in jail - but who's behind it all? Who led the charge to have him incarcerated? Why it's Richard Thornberg, the sleazy journalist from the first and second one, who's been following McClane for years and building up a deluded case that McClane's actually a terrorist kingpin.

Millar's pitch does work out some of the kinks in the original prequel pitch and throwing Richard Thornberg back into the mix is pretty great. Plus, it gets us into the prison quicker which is what the film needed and gives it more pacing.

The sad fact, however, is that the guy slated to take this on, Len Wiseman, is a sub-standard director. Die Hard 4 was passable at best, but essentially just a few rungs down from Michael Bay. A Good Day To Die Hard was just awful in every respect. So the question is, who do you bring back to direct it?

John McTiernan, obviously. He's out of prison, he's looking for work, he directed some of the greatest action films of the '80s and '90s and did the first AND third Die Hard film.

What do you think of Millar's modified pitch? Are you excited for a Die Hard prequel or should it be left alone? Let us know in the comments!

 

Via MillarWorld.tv