Former 'Spartacus' star Jai Courtney is John McClane's son in 'A Good Day to Die Hard'

There were a ton of names angling hard for the role of John McClane's son in the fifth Die Hard film, A Good Day to Die Hard. For good reason, as it's a high profile franchise gig with the opportunity to share screen time with Bruce Willis. But more than that, there's always the potential of a spinoff, as Willis isn't getting any younger.  Last October we learned that Fox was looking at a number of character actors for the role, including Ben Foster, Paul Dano, and Milo Ventimiglia. In a surprise move, the studio and Willis went out of left field with their decision, selecting up 'n coming actor Jai Courtney for the coveted role.

Courtney is probably best known for his role as Varro in the first season of the awesome Starz Network series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. He was my favorite character on the show, actually, Spartacus' loyal but haunted friend who just wanted to be reunited with his wife and child. Although Courtney wasn't able to return for the current season(I won't spoil why so you can watch it yourself!), he's made the best of the opportunity by picking up roles in the Tom Cruise led thriller, One Shot, and in Stuart Beattie's adaptation of I, Frankenstein. 

Deadline reports that in the end it came down to Courtney and Willis' The Expendables 2 co-star, Liam Hemsworth. Likely it was Courtney's physicality that won him the part, as it's sure to be a necessity in the film, which has McClane battling local forces in Russia. That's right, Russia. Die Hard's gone global! Boom!!! New York has blown up enough.

John Moore(Max Payne) will be lending his boring directorial "gifts" when production begins this spring, in time for a Valentine's Day release next year.