“You never want to see that”: Even Bruce Willis Hated Die Hard 3’s Alternate Ending That Was Too “Cruel and Menacing”

Actor Bruce Willis knew that there was something wrong with Die Hard 3’s original ending.

The shift in actor Bruce Willis’ career came with 1988’s Die Hard. The film was a massive success and laid down the foundation of the franchise. The third film in the franchise, Die Hard with a Vengeance, is often considered one of the best movies in the series, however, the film almost had a very different ending.

Bruce Willis in Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)

Willis once revealed that he hated this ending because it “wasn’t a Die Hard ending.” The idea was scrapped because Willis’ character, John McClane, was portrayed as cruel and menacing. The Die Hard franchise helped establish Willis as an icon in the action genre.

Bruce Willis’ Die Hard with a Vengeance initially had a different ending

Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis in Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)

The third installment in the Die Hard franchise, Die Hard with a Vengeance, initially had a different ending. As per DigitalFlix, the ending took place at villain Simon Gruber’s home. In this alternative ending, actor Bruce Willis‘ character, John McClane, turns the tables on the ‘Simon Says’ game that Gruber has used throughout the movie.

McClane places a Chinese rocket launcher on the desk between them, and it’s spun around to face both men. When Simon fires, it kills him but doesn’t affect McClane as he is wearing a flak jacket.

The ending was scrapped because John McClane seemed too cruel and menacing

Bruce Willis in Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)

The writer of the movie, Jonathan Hensleigh, later explained that the ending was scrapped because the studio’s executives and producers thought it made McClane look “too cruel and menacing.” Even the star of the film, Bruce Willis, wasn’t a huge fan of the ending as he told EW in 2007,

“I remember on the third one, Die Hard with a Vengeance, we reshot the ending – which I predicted, not that I’m smart or anything, I just knew that the ending that we were going with wasn’t a Die Hard ending. It wouldn’t satisfy the audience when they said ‘One Year Later’ at the end – you never want to see that.”

In the end, fans got an action-packed ending where John McClane shoots a power line, hitting Simon Gruber’s helicopter as he attempts to escape, causing it to crash and explode.

Die Hard with a Vengeance is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Disney+.