Posted in: 20th Century Studios, Fox, Movies | Tagged: 20th century studios, bruce willis, die hard, Emma Heming Willis, fox, John McClane

Die Hard: Bruce Willis Returns Atop "Nakatomi Tower" on Social Media

Bruce Willis' cinematic career has come full circle, so to speak. The 67-year-old, who announced his retirement from acting, returned to the Fox Plaza building in Century City, California, which doubled for Nakatomi Tower in the 1988 classic Die Hard. The John McTiernan film took Willis' career to the next level from his TV series Moonlighting on ABC, permanently solidifying him as a megastar. His wife, Emma Heming Willis, shared a clip on her Instagram in a black-and-white moment of reflection, shown standing atop of the skyscraper spliced with scenes from the original film, which is based on the Roderick Thorp novel Nothing Lasts Forever.

The film, written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, follows lone NYPD cop Det. John McClane (Willis), who visits his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) at her company Christmas party in Los Angeles. Unbeknownst to them, terrorists led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) take over the building and take everyone in the party hostage. With his only contact on the ground, a dedicated beat cop (Reginald VelJohnson), it will take everything for McClane to become a one-man army to stop the terrorists. Not only is the film revolutionary as far as action films go, but it's also the subject of the infamous debate on whether it's a Christmas film.

The success of the film spawned several sequels, with the final released in 2013 with a combined global take of $1.4 billion for 20th Century Studios. Bedelia and VelJohnson reprised their roles for the 1990 sequel directed by Renny Harlin. McTiernan would return to direct the third film Die Hard with a Vengeance, in 1995, which abandons the number convention. Len Wiseman and John Moore would direct the final films, respectively, in 2007's Live Free or Die Hard and 2013's A Good Day to Die Hard. Willis did reprise his role for an Advanced Auto Parts commercial that reunited him with other Die Hard co-stars, De'Voreaux White (Argyle) and Clarence Gilyard Jr. (Theo). Several ideas were discussed to expand the franchise, including a possible sixth film, but canceled with Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!