Die Hard 6 pitch leads to a deal for The Devil

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Last month, screenwriter Eric D. Wilkinson took out a full-page ad in The Hollywood Reporter that served as an open letter to Bruce Willis, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, and director Len Wiseman, in which Wilkinson and his writing partner Richard Schenkman pitched their take on the recently announced DIE HARD prequel project, DIE HARD: YEAR ONE. While the ad hasn't gotten Wilkinson and Schenkman the DIE HARD gig, it did draw the attention and interest of others, in particular Eclectic Pictures Senior Vice President Conor Charles. Charles contacted Wilkinson and Schenkman to hear what non-DIE HARD ideas they might have… and Eclectic Pictures has now announced that they have purchased the rights to the Wilkinson/Schenkman script THE DEVIL.

A modern take on the Jersey Devil urban legend, THE DEVIL is 

an action/horror franchise-starter loosely based on a true story.  During a fraternity "hell night" deep in the Pine Barrens, a group of college students discover the urban legend of a 300-year old demonic creature is all too real.

Wilkinson says, "Forget what you think you know about the Jersey Devil — ours is bigger, badder, and scarier than anything you could possibly imagine."

College kids vs. the Jersey Devil sounds like a fun time to me, and certainly more enticing than the thought of watching another DIE HARD movie after the painful A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD.

Wilkinson and Schenkman's previous collaborations include the 2013 horror film MISCHIEF NIGHT.