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A second revised draft script with 27 additional revision pages from the production of John McTiernan's Die Hard. In Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza's adaptation of Roderick Thorp's novel Nothing Lasts Forever, John McClane (Bruce Willis) set out to rescue his wife Holly McClane (Bonnie Bedelia) and her coworkers at a holiday party infiltrated by terrorists. The film is today considered a modern classic and among the greatest action films of the 1980s.

This unbound 148-page script by Stuart and de Souza originated from the collection of Academy Award®-winning effects artist Mark Stetson, who served as the model shop supervisor for Boss Film Studios during production. It is dated "October 2, 1987" with salmon-color revision pages dated "November 17, 1987." Also included are 27 separate blue revision pages with a memorandum from production dated "November 23, 1987." This lot exhibits a loose cover page and discoloration. Dimensions: 8.5" x 11" x 1" (21.75 cm x 28 cm x 2.75 cm)

About Mark Stetson

Visual effects maestro Mark Stetson's singular run in Hollywood began in 1978. After graduating from the prestigious Art Center College of Design, he immediately began a position as an effects props and miniatures artist for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, for which his responsibilities included building such memorable vessels as the workbee, the Constitution-class shuttlebay, and a studio model of the Enterprise itself. After filming concluded, Stetson continued working as a modelmaker, and later model shop supervisor, for Entertainment Effects Group (EEG), hand-making miniatures and other groundbreaking optical effects for acclaimed productions like Blade Runner, Ghostbusters, and Brainstorm under founder Douglas Trumbull.

By 1989, following a stint as model shop supervisor for Richard Edlund's Boss Film Corporation - including positions on such blockbuster productions as Die Hard and Poltergeist II, among numerous others - Stetson had founded his own effects company, Stetson Visual Services, Inc. Over the next 35-plus years SVSI became known for producing pioneering effects sequences for dozens of hit films, running the gamut from action classics like Total Recall, Waterworld, and The Fifth Element to acclaimed franchise installments like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, and Superman Returns to cult comedies like Coneheads and The Hudsucker Proxy. Stetson's work in this period earned him three Academy Award nominations (and one win), two BAFTAs, and the Visual Effects Society Awards' Founders Award for innovations in the field.

Today, Propstore is proud to offer a hand-picked selection of memorabilia from the personal collection of this once-in-a-generation talent. Accumulated over nearly five decades in cinema, these lots represent a wide range of production materials, including ornately detailed model miniatures, hand-drawn artwork, and rare behind-the-scenes photographs, as well as Stetson's own production paperwork and crew gifts. Stretching across different eras, genres, and styles of production, the Mark Stetson Collection is nothing short of a testament to one of the world's most successful and imitated living visual effects artists.