Photo by Daniel Angeli & Bertrand Rindoff
Negative Year: 1988 (printed year: 1980s)
Print size: 29.5x21 cm (incl. 1.8cm white frame)
Style: Vintage print / gelatin silver print
Photographers stamp on the verso
* some minor black marks on the lower right side of the print
The Backstory:
In September 1988, Bruce Willis traveled to Deauville (Calvados) on the occasion of the 14th edition of the American Film Festival where the film "Die Hard" by John McTiernan was presented in preview. Willis portrays John McClane, a New York police officer, a true antihero with often dark humor.
In the search for a blockbuster, 20th Century Fox kept asking the same question: Will anyone play the role of John McClane?
But each time they pitched the lead role, the action-film stars of the era - Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford to name a few - turned down the offer.
Finally, in desperation, the studio turned to Bruce Willis. At that time he was mainly known for his role on the romantic comedy TV series “Moonlighting”.
However, “Die Hard” defied the critics and became the surprise hit of 1988, grossing $140 million at the box office. The role catapulted Willis to the party of A-listers and made him one of the most relatable action-film stars of Hollywood.
"Die Hard is probably the closest I’ve come to showing what is in my heart on screen,” Willis said in a 1988 interview published in 2018 by the British tabloid Closer Weekly.
His career may have turned out differently if he had not signed up for that film.
Bruce Willis, Deauville American Film Festival, 1988
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We recommend framing with museum glass (UV protection) and an acid-free passe-partout.