Die Hard: With a Vengeance

A bomb destroys a department store in New York, and a man calling himself Simon phones the police. The game: Lieutenant John McClane, hungover and short on allies, must follow his orders or another bomb goes off. John ends up paired with Zeus Carver, a Harlem shop owner. The two race the clock across New York solving riddles while Simon moves the pieces. The police believe the threat is a bomb hidden in a school. But John senses something bigger is going on. Simon is kin to an old enemy, and the grudge is personal.

1. Behind the scenesThe script was meant for another movie

   The script began as Simon Says, written as a Brandon Lee vehicle. The project died when Lee died making The Crow. Warner rewrote it as a Lethal Weapon sequel, but it ended up at Fox, which turned it into Die Hard.

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2. SetupHans's brother

   Simon, Jeremy Irons's villain, is Simon Peter Gruber, Hans Gruber's brother. The reveal ties the film to the first one and explains why his game against McClane is so personal.

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3. Behind the scenesZeus was meant to be a woman

   In the original script, the character who became Samuel L. Jackson's Zeus Carver was written with an actress in mind. The odd-couple pairing with McClane came after the rewrite.

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