Die Hard spawned a massive five-film franchise. Its inspired endless ripoffs, it got its own video games, its now considered one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time. But did you knowDie Hard was originally written as a sequel to a totally different movie?Yup, its true.Die Hard is based on a novel calledNothing Lasts Forever, which was written by authorRoderick Thorp as a sequel to his own book,The Detective, which was adapted into a 1968 movie starring Frank Sinatra as the gritty NYPD cop, Joe Leland. After the success ofThe Detective as both novel and film, Thorp decided to write a sequel, which becameNothing Lasts Forever, about Leland trapped in a skyscraper with terrorists.A sequel film was then developed for Sinatra, but it never came together. After Sinatra got older, the Leland character was rewritten and the connection toThe Detectivewas removed. The new script was called ...Die Hard.And then: Many moreDie Hards followed. For the full story of this franchise, check out our latest video, which chroniclesDie Hards ups and downs through the years as movies, books, video games, and more. Plus, well tell you about theDie Hard projects that never quite happened through the years, includingDie Hard TV shows.Watch the complete history of Die Hard below;If you liked that video about the complete history of theDie Hard franchise, check out more of our videos below, including a slew ofDie Hardtrivia you might not know, our list of the top five worstDie Hardrip-offs, anda complete history of theSonic the Hedgehogfranchise. Plus, theres tons more over at ScreenCrushs YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe to catch all our future episodes.10 TV Show Flops That Turned Out to Be Huge HitsUniversally beloved TV shows aren't always universally beloved from episode one.Gallery Credit: Emma Stefansky