Editing Die Hard (section)

===Context===
{{see also|1988 in film}}
[[File:Die Hard logo.png|thumb|alt=The logo for Die Hard with Bruce Willis's name positioned above|The logo for ''Die Hard'']]
The summer of 1988 was expected by film industry executives to be dominated by action and comedy films, although a broader range of films were released that year.<ref name="NYTimesPreview"/><ref name="NYTImesAssessment"/> More films targeted older audiences rather than teenagers, a reflection of the increasing age of the average audience member.<ref name="NYTImesAssessment"/> Sequels to successful films, ''[[Crocodile Dundee II]]'' and ''[[Rambo III]]'', were predicted to control the May box office and break opening weekend revenue records. Industry executives also had high expectations for the comedies ''[[Coming to America]]'' and ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]''.<ref name="NYTimesPreview"/>

Expectations for ''Die Hard'' were low compared to its action film competition—the Schwarzenegger-starring ''[[Red Heat (1988 film)|Red Heat]]'' and Clint Eastwood's ''[[The Dead Pool]]''. ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted that ''Die Hard'', and the comedies ''[[Big Top Pee-wee]]'' and ''[[Bull Durham]]'', would be closely scrutinized by the industry for success or failure. ''Die Hard'' was singled out for Willis's salary, and the failure earlier that year of his previous film, the western ''[[Sunset (1988 film)|Sunset]]'', which brought into question his leading man capabilities.<ref name="NYTimesPreview"/> Lawrence Gordon agreed that not using a major action star like Stallone or Eastwood meant audience interest in ''Die Hard'' was lower than it might have been. The larger salaries paid to these stars were based on the built-in audience they could attract to a film's opening week, with good word of mouth supporting the film thereafter, but Willis did not have a built-in audience.<ref name="NYTimesPostRelease"/>