Bruce Willis hopes to find the Charles Bronson magic in remake of Death Wish

WE’LL have the perfect chance to see how Bruce Willis is ageing in his latest film.

As he tackles a new version of the movie Charles Bronson made famous at 52, Willis is 63, and remaking Death Wish is a demanding challenge.

In 1974, Bruce was just months out of high school when the late, great Bronson launched the movie that would turn into a series, spanning the 20 most important years of his career.

Now, as one of the biggest names we’ve ever seen in cinema, with nothing left to prove and having shown he plays a tough guy very well indeed, what can Willis add to the list of super-successful Death Wish flicks?

Well, much of the success of the originals was down to the revenge theme, a man pursuing those who have hurt his family and paying them back with interest.

And, as the then comedy actor who stepped in for Die Hard after Arnold Schwarzenegger said no — and trying to emulate Frank Sinatra in an earlier version — Bruce likes a challenge!

Director Eli Roth has given some clues about what to expect from the Willis version of Death Wish, saying: “I wanted to really make it about family, and stick to the central issue of what would you do if this happened to your loved ones.

“The movie for me really is about protecting your family and what do you do when you can’t get justice for them?

“It’s not pro-gun. What I really try to do more than anything is to show it how it really is, and leave it for the audience to decide.”

As you may imagine, its timing has caused consternation in some quarters Stateside, in the midst of school shootings and the great debate on gun control.

What isn’t up for debate is that Bruce Willis is still keen on new challenges, with several other movies in the can for this year and next.

It’s almost 40 years since his first film appearance, and everyone of a certain age fondly recalls Willis and the wonderful Cybill Shepherd on TV’s Moonlighting.

The Bonfire Of The Vanities, the Die Hard movies, Pulp Fiction, The Sixth Sense and many more films have kept his profile high.

He will, however, have taken another long look at Bronson, surely the kind of tough-guy superstar that Bruce would have studied in the past.

Bronson’s wonderful career spanned almost 50 years, so Willis has a bit to go.

When Bronson was the age Willis is now, he was still running around like a madman in his movies, pistol in hand, pursuing the latest thugs to dare cross his path and mess with his family.

The Evil That Men Do and Death Wish 3, not to mention Murphy’s Law, didn’t exactly portray an actor keen to take the pension and put his feet up.

Indeed, it was only hip-replacement surgery at the age of almost 77 that saw him take life easier.

No signs of Willis doing likewise — it’s six years since the first Die Hard was named Greatest Film Ever by one of cinema’s most-respected magazines, and the talk is all about a sixth in the series coming out next year.

“I’ve been to see what the script looks like, and I think it’ll happen,” he says.

Death Wish is in UK cinemas from Friday, April 6.