Bruce Willis John McClane in "Die Hard", Willis reprised his role in the sequels "Die Hard 2" (1990) and "Die Hard with a Vengeance" (1995). These first three installments in the "Die Hard" series grossed over US$700 million internationally and propelled Willis to the first rank of Hollywood action stars. In the early 1990s, Willis's career suffered a moderate slump, as he starred in flops such as "The Bonfire of the Vanities" (1990). He gained more success with "Striking Distance" (1993) but flopped again with "Color of Night" (1994): another box office failure, it was savaged by critics but did well in
Bruce Willis McDormand in "Moonrise Kingdom" (2012). Filming took place in Rhode Island under the direction of Wes Anderson, in 2011. Willis returned, in an expanded role, in "The Expendables 2" (2012). He appeared alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the sci-fi action film, "Looper" (2012), as the older version of Gordon-Levitt's character, Joe. Willis teamed up with 50 Cent in a film directed by David Barrett called "Fire with Fire", starring opposite Josh Duhamel and Rosario Dawson, about a fireman who must save the love of his life. Willis also joined Vince Vaughn and Catherine Zeta-Jones in "Lay the Favorite", directed by Stephen