You'll Never Believe How DIE HARD 24/7 Got Its Name...

Merrick here...

Last night, Harry posted a piece indicating that the long gestating DIE HARD 5 might be called DIE HARD 24/7 (HERE).

This prompted a correspondence from an...established creative talent within the entertainment industry. Someone known to AICN, who could feasibly be known to you as well if you heard his/her name... someone who drops AICN a line from time to time to offer welcomed clarity on frustratingly vague newsbits.

This time, she/he wanted to let us know how DIE HARD 24/7 got the name none of us seem to like. Ironically, what a few Talkbackers were joking about beneath Harry's article (linked above) turns out to be true.

At one point, The Powers That Be at Fox mulled an idea - DIE HARD 5 and the TV show 24 were to cross over. The intent was for Kiefer Sutherland to appear as Jack Bauer in an adventure with Bruce Willis' John McClane. Hence...DIE HARD 24/7.

Our dude/lady didn't know how much development was actually put into this notion, but she/he believes the project didn't pan out because Kiefer was more interested in launching his own 24 movie franchise (still said to be in the works) than doing buddy shtick in Bruce's already established series. Which leaves some questions. Are we just now getting wind of an older title that has since been abandoned? Did they keep the title because they thought it was good, but are using it for some entirely different DH sequel conceit? Or, if DIE HARD 24/7 is actually still in play as a title, is there still a specific reason for using it?

I'll be the first to admit that, at face value, this notion sounds like the pitiful ranting of a wizzened fanboy. Again, though, this comes from a source we view as reasonably credible. Is there a margin for error? Absolutely, but not too likely in this case. Food for thought and fun to speculate about. So, let you imaginations run wild...

We'll let you know if we hear anything else about this...