John McClane never goes down without a fight. And neither is director John McTiernan.
An attorney for the Die Hard director was vowing an appeal after the filmmaker was sentenced Monday to four months in prison for lying to an FBI agent investigating Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano.
In April 2006, McTiernan pleaded guilty to a felony charge of, essentially, telling an FBI agent that he'd only used Pellicano's services during a divorce, only to later admit he'd also called on the detective to wiretap the office of producer Charles Roven, with whom he made 2002's Rollerball.
Last week, McTiernan asked that the plea be nixed on account he had been jetlagged and under the influence of sinus medication when he first talked to the feds, and had acted on bad legal advice when he declared himself guilty. U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer rejected, if not mocked, the request.
"He has shown no remorse, just excuses," Fischer said of McTiernan.
Barring a third-act turnaround, McTiernan must surrender to authorities by Jan. 15. In addition to the prison term, the filmmaker was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine.
Pellicano, meanwhile, is awaiting trial on a 110-count indictment that alleges he gathered dirt on Hollywood players, including Sylvester Stallone, more or less like a character out of a James Ellroy crime novel. The former P.I. to the stars, as he was known, stands accused of racketeering and other charges. Pellicano, who served more than two years in prison for weapons violations, has pleaded not guilty.
McTiernan, 56, is best known for directing the original Die Hard. According to the Internet Movie Database, he had a producing credit on this past summer's sequel Live Free or Die Hard and helmed the franchise's third installment, 1995's Die Hard with a Vengeance. A specialist in big movies that go bang, McTiernan's other films include The Hunt for Red October, Last Action Hero, and the 1999 hit remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Per the IMDb, he has four new movies in the works.
Basic, the 2003 thriller starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson, is McTiernan's most recent movie as director. The film finds Travolta as a DEA agent who becomes frustrated as he searches for answers about a missing drill instructor (Jackson).
"See what happens when you lie," Travolta screams in the movie's trailer. "When you lie!"