As he undertakes promotional duties for his incoming cop comedy Cop Out (directed by Kevin Smith, of course), Bruce Willis has revealed to MTV that he's planning on a fifth Die Hard movie, and that it could be shooting as soon as next year. This is some turnaround: after the third film, Die Hard With A Vengeance, Willis was notoriously reluctant to reprise the role of John McClane a fourth time, and as it turned out, it took over a decade before he went near the franchise again.

Yet, Die Hard 4.0/Live Free Or Die Hard (depending where in the world you live) - which we enjoyed a lot more than we were expecting to - turned into the most commercially successful entry into the franchise again. Even though it pretty much went against the origins of the franchise, given that it turned the central character into the beefed up superhero he never really was. But since then, Willis hasn't ruled out reprising the role of McClane again.

Now it looks like that's going to happen. He told MTV, "I think we're going to do a Die Hard 5 next year," adding that he's looking to broaden the story still further: "Well it's got to go worldwide," he reasoned.

Here's the bit that set our alarm bells blaring a little, though. For Willis then said, "But I like so much more making fun of it, taking the piss out of it and not making it a big deal. Not making the fact that I've acted in a lot of movies a big deal. It's all illusion and it's all bullshit and it's a great job for me to have, but everything else you can set on fire. Making people laugh is the real deal."

Hmmm. I've always enjoyed the humour in the Die Hard movies, certainly, but I'd be curious to see just what Willis means here. Is he just underplaying the role a little, or is he suggesting that Die Hard is on the road to self-parody (which some would argue it did with the last film)? I'm loathed to read too much into his words, and would happily be there day one for a new Die Hard movie. But is he really going to do the next film just to have a laugh at it? I doubt it, but his words, perhaps, do him no favours here.

Incidentally, Willis also notes that he'd call back Len Wiseman, the director of the fourth film, to do the next one. But, obviously, there's been no confirmation or mention of the project from Mr Wiseman himself.

Here's the piece at MTV...