John McTiernan reinvented the action movie in the ‘80s with “Predator,” and “Die Hard.” The ‘90s fared just as well for him with “The Hunt For Red October,” “Die Hard With A Vengeance,” “The Last Action Hero,” and “The Thomas Crown Affair.”
The aughts weren’t so kind though, for a number of reasons, “Basic” and “Rollerball” tanked, but he was also convicted of illegally spying on his “Rollerball” producer and sent to jail in 2013. He was eventually released in 2014 and served the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. Oh, and he also declared bankruptcy on his assets.
Despite all that, he has a fervent fanbase in Europe, where his films are still revered and he is seen as an auteur with a distinct cinematic voice.
McTiernan hasn’t directed a film in almost 20 years. He implies that the reason why is the shape-shifting change within the industry. In a new interview with Cahiers du Cinema, McTiernan says he’s still getting plenty of offers to direct, but none of them are for good films:
“I am still being offered action movies. Last week, I received the story of an armed commando. There are still people ready to finance these things by waving a $2 million payday at my face. I would really need it, but I always refuse. It's always the same: three guys arm themselves to the teeth and kill a slew of people in Colombia to save someone’s poor daughter. My country has never gotten over these pathological obsessions. Europe is much more civilized.”
McTiernan was supposed to shoot a new film in Paris last fall, but something happened and that film, titled “Taut Ceci Foxtrot,” has been, again, delayed. It was supposed to star Uma Thurman and Laurence Fishburne and tell the story of a group of rebels who set out to kill the oligarchs and military thugs that terrorized a war-torn planet in the remote Tau Ceti solar system.
McTiernan says he is currently working on three new scripts, all of which might never see the light of day, but he will never quit.
“I have continued to write and I believe I have strength, years left. I am just as angry now as when I was 19,” adds the 72-year-old McTiernan.