Editing Die Hard with a Vengeance (section)

===Development and writing===
Like most of the films in the series, the premise of this film was repurposed from a stand-alone project. Various scripts were written for ''Die Hard 3''; a number of them were ultimately rejected by Bruce Willis on the grounds that they felt like retreads of the action movies that came in the wake of the first film.<ref name="denofgeek">{{Cite news|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/die-hard/21313/the-strange-history-of-the-die-hard-movies|title=The strange history of the Die Hard movies|newspaper=Den of Geek|access-date=November 11, 2016}}</ref> One script, originally titled ''Troubleshooter'', had McClane fighting terrorists on a Caribbean cruise line, but was rejected for being too similar to ''[[Under Siege]]''.<ref name="latimes">{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-11-01-ca-1596-story.html|title=OFF-CENTERPIECE : 'Die Hard 3' Blown Out of the Water by 'Siege'|last=Wells|first=Jeffrey|date=November 1, 1992|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] S|issn=0458-3035|access-date=November 11, 2016|archive-date=February 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202080403/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-11-01-ca-1596-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Troubleshooter'' was later repurposed for ''[[Speed 2: Cruise Control]]''.<ref name="denofgeek" />

The script ultimately used was intended for a film entitled ''Simon Says'', originally positioned as a [[Brandon Lee]] vehicle and the character of Zeus was written with an actress in mind, but the project was cancelled after Lee's death during filming of ''[[The Crow (1994 film)|The Crow]]''. [[Warner Bros.]] bought the script and rewrote it as a ''[[Lethal Weapon (franchise)|Lethal Weapon]]'' sequel. Warner Bros. later put the script in turnaround, only to be purchased by [[20th Century Fox]] and rewritten as a ''Die Hard'' film.<ref name="denofgeek" />

[[Andrew G. Vajna|Andy Vajna]] replaced [[Joel Silver]] and [[Lawrence Gordon (producer)|Larry Gordon]] as the producer on the film due to a fall-out with Willis.<ref name="latimes" /> As a result, Vajna's company, [[Cinergi Pictures|Cinergi]], acquired foreign rights to the film. In most regions, the film rights were acquired by [[Walt Disney Studios (division)|Disney]] and [[Summit Entertainment]], while Fox retained domestic and Japan rights.<ref name="sec.gov"/> In July 1997, Cinergi sold its 50% stake in the film to Fox for $11.25 million.<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 17, 1997|title=Fox buys 'Die Hard' part|url=https://variety.com/1997/film/news/fox-buys-die-hard-part-1116676671/|access-date=October 28, 2020|website=Variety|language=en-US|archive-date=October 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031202828/https://variety.com/1997/film/news/fox-buys-die-hard-part-1116676671/|url-status=live}}</ref>