FRANK SINATRA

You might not know it, but the Die Hard movie was based on a book called Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp, which was published in 1979. It turns out that Nothing Lasts Forever is actually a sequel to a book called The Detective, published in 1966 which was made into a movie of the same name. The movie starred—you guessed it—Frank Sinatra as the main character, Detective Joe Leland. Because Die Hard was technically a sequel, they were contractually obligated to offer Frank Sinatra the leading role. He was 73 years old at the time and gracefully turned the offer down. Instead, Bruce Willis was cast in the leading role, with the character renamed to John McClane instead of Joe Leland.