Over three decades after the release of his star-making blockbuster, Die Hard, action icon Bruce Willis revisited Nakatomi Plaza.
Located in Century City, Los Angeles, Fox Plaza was the stand-in for the 34-story skyscraper where John McClane fought Hans Gruber and his team of international terrorists to save his estranged wife. Willis' wife, Emma Herring Willis, shared a black and white clip of her superstar husband standing on the ledge of the rooftop where McClane famously leaped off of. The clip is followed by a montage of famous scenes from the classic 1988 Christmas action film playing to the Tune of "Ode to Joy."
The nostalgic clip comes several months after Willis announced his retirement from acting. After years of speculation in Hollywood, Willis and his family confirmed the actor had been diagnosed with Aphasia, which has created cognitive difficulties for Willis. The Die Hard star has reportedly struggled on film sets for years because of it.
The Die Hard Legacy
Die Hard marked a transition point in Willis' early acting career in the '80s. After making a name for himself as a wisecracking private detective on ABC's romantic comedy series, Moonlighting, Willis jumped to the big screen by starring in two Blake Edwards comedy films: 1987's Blind Date and 1988's Sunset. But it was in Die Hard where Willis' was changed forever. Though Willis as the lead was a concern to Fox executives, their fears were put to rest when Die Hard went on to gross $141 million worldwide on a $35 million budget and turned Willis into an A-list action star for the next two decades.
The success of Die Hard spawned an entire franchise consisting of 1990's Die Hard 2: Die Harder, 1995's Die Hard with a Vengeance, 2007's Live Free or Die Hard and 2013's A Good Day to Die Hard. While each movie was successful financially at the worldwide box office, they had increasingly distanced the John McClane character away from his ordinary Joe roots to make him more into an immortal superhero. The original film remains a Christmastime favorite for action movie fans despite Willis declaring that it's not a Christmas movie.
Die Hard and its sequels can be streamed on Hulu.
Source: Instagram