the garage during the siege. A weary McClane finds Holly with Gruber and his remaining men and knocks Kristoff unconscious. McClane surrenders his machine gun to spare Holly, but then distracts Gruber and Eddie by laughing, allowing him to grab a concealed handgun taped to his back. McClane shoots Gruber in the shoulder and then kills Eddie. Gruber is sent crashing through a window. Gruber prevents himself from falling by holding onto Holly by her watch. McClane manages to release the watch and Gruber falls to his death on the street below. McClane and Holly are escorted from the building and meet Powell in person. Karl emerges from the building disguised as a hostage and attempts to shoot McClane, but he is gunned down by Powell. Argyle crashes through the parking garage door in the limo. Thornburg arrives and attempts to interview McClane, but is punched by Holly. McClane and Holly are driven away by Argyle. Die Hard is based on Roderick Thorp 's 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever , a sequel to his 1966 novel The Detective which had itself been turned into a 1968 film of the same name starring Frank Sinatra . That film was a box office success, and when Thorp wrote the sequel, the studio was contractually obligated to offer Sinatra the lead role despite being 73 years old at the time. Sinatra turned down the role. The story was then changed to have no connection to The Detective and instead pursued as a sequel