A Good To Die Hard is easily the worst of the legendary action franchise but had it stuck to its original plan of being a 24 crossover, the outcome may have been better. Real-time thriller series 24 debuted in 2001 and quickly became a hit around the world. The adventures of Kiefer Sutherland’s CTU agent Jack Bauer both thrilled audiences and became controversial for its perceived endorsement of torture.
24 originally came to a close in 2010 after eight seasons. When Fox ended the show, the original plan was to give Jack his own film. A 24 movie had previously been given a dry run with 2008 TV movie Redemption, which served as a prequel to season 7 while exploring Jack’s time in Africa. Redemption was basically a serviceable, extended episode, but it also revealed it was difficult to pull off 24’s real-time format with such a tight runtime. This ultimately proved to be the demise of the 24 movie, because despite filmmakers like Tony Scott being linked to it, the real-time format couldn’t be cracked.
One famously bizarre notion was to cross the series over with Die Hard, in a movie that was dubbed Die Hard 24/7. Sutherland himself was apparently the main person to nix this idea, feeling 24 would be better served with a solo film. For years, it was unknown how – or even if – A Good Day To Die Hard drew from this abandoned crossover plan. However, longtime 24 director and producer Jon Cassar exclusively revealed to Screen Rant that “… the last Die Hard you saw was supposed to be a 24 and John McClane crossover.”
Why A Good Day To Die Hard’s 24 Crossover Would Have Been An Improvement
On the surface, it’s probably a good thing this crossover didn’t happen. The tones of the Die Hard movies and 24 are quite different, with the latter tending to avoid the dry humor of the former. That said, given how much of a mess A Good Day To Die Hard was, it at least would have made for a more entertaining film. Presumably, instead of working with his son Jack (Jai Courtney), Willis’ McClane would have teamed up with Jack Bauer in Russia. This would have made a certain amount of sense, as 24 season 8 left off with Bauer on the run from both the U.S. and Russia following a rampage against officials from both sides who were involved in a conspiracy that got innocent people killed.
Perhaps Bauer – who rarely eats or uses the bathroom – would have been in Russia to untangle that particular mess. With respect to Courtney, the pairing of Willis and Sutherland sounds like a far more compelling onscreen duo, and their characters would likely have come to blows. While the addition of Bauer may have nudged up A Good Day To Die Hard’s score slightly, the sequel had fundamental issues beyond the loss of one character. The action was over-edited and uninspired, the story is paper thin and Willis himself appears quite bored with the role. In an alternate universe, maybe Die Hard 24/7 would have been an unexpected treat for fans of both franchises – it certainly can’t have been much worse than the end product.
