How the director of Die Hard lost his career to a wiretapping scandal
In short: John McTiernan defined the modern action blockbuster with films like Predator and Die Hard. Yet, at the height of his influence, a clandestine decision to hire a private investigator for illegal wiretaps triggered a decade-long legal collapse, leading to federal prison, bankruptcy, and a total exile from Hollywood.
John McTiernan rose to prominence in the late 1980s, directing genre-defining hits including Predator (1987) and Die Hard (1988). His career trajectory shifted in 2000 when he hired private investigator Anthony Pellicano to wiretap Charles Roven, a co-producer on his film Rollerball. McTiernan sought to uncover negative remarks Roven might have made about studio executives, hoping to gain an advantage in creative disagreements regarding the film's direction.
The legal fallout began in 2006 when McTiernan was charged with lying to the FBI about his involvement with Pellicano. After a complex series of plea bargains, withdrawn guilty pleas, and appeals, he was sentenced to one year in federal prison for perjury and making false statements. He served 328 days at a minimum-security facility in Yankton, South Dakota, beginning in April 2013. During this period, he faced severe financial distress, including foreclosure proceedings on his 3,254-acre Wyoming ranch and a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
Following his release in 2014, McTiernan found himself effectively blacklisted, as his legal history made him uninsurable for major studio productions. While he briefly returned to directing in 2017 for video game advertisements, he has not helmed a feature film since 2003. Despite these setbacks, McTiernan has recently expressed a desire to return to directing, noting in 2025 that he has four potential projects in development, though he remains cautious about revealing details until production is underway.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: John McTiernan
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