“Hey, dickhead... did I come at a bad time?”
The film was originally titled “Simon Says” (where Zeus was scripted as a woman) and considered as the third sequel to Lethal Weapon (1987). Early drafts of the screenplay were based on the novel “ Troubleshooter” which involved terrorists seizing a Caribbean cruise ship. That idea was eventually used to make Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997). Screenwriter Jonathan Hensleigh says that the first hour of the film is his original “Simon Says” script word for word. He only changed the characters from the script, so it would feel like a part of the Die Hard series. The script’s working title became,“Die Hard: New York.” The studio insisted that he remove the scene with McClane walking around Harlem wearing a sign that reads, “I hate niggers”. They let him keep the scene in when he threatened to take the script to another studio. Sean Connery was director John McTiernan’s first choice for the role of Simon Gruber. He turned it down because he didn’t want to play such a diabolical villain. Later David Thewlis was cast before being replaced by Jeremy Irons. Laurence Fishburne was the original choice to play Zeus Carver, but he passed. Zeus’ look in the film was Samuel L. Jackson’s idea after researching his character ’s political POV by studying books on Malcolm X. The studio had considered editing out the opening bombing of the department store, or moving the film’s release date back because they were concerned that the American public might be sensitive because it was the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.
