Sorry Ben Foster, Paul Dano and Milo Ventigmilia. It looks like out of that original shortlist, only Aaron Paul has made it to the next level of testing for the role of son-to-Bruce Willis John McClane, Jr. in “A Good Day to Die Hard, to be directed by John Moore in Russia early next year. But he still doesn’t have the part yet, as Deadline reports three more contestants have entered the ring: Liam Hemsworth (who is all over these high profile shortlists lately), James Badge Dale and DJ Cotrona.

Paul won an Emmy in 2010 for his role on AMC’s critically acclaimed “Breaking Bad” and has recently started to sign on to film projects, the most recent being dark comedy “Smashed” opposite Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Deadline points out his “Breaking Bad’ schedule could present a problem here, which would be a shame. Hemsworth made his American feature film debut in Nicholas Sparks adaptation “The Last Song” but has not been seen on the screen since, although after landing the role of Gale in next March’s “The Hunger Games”, that will all change. Badge Dale can currently be seen in Michael Fassbender-starrer “Shame” and is filming “World War Z” opposite Brad Pitt. Cotrona had been primarily a TV actor but got his big film break recently when he was cast as Flint in the currently-filming “G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation.” Advantage Cotrona? Willis plays Joe in that film.

20th Century Fox is said to be eyeing the youngster to take over the “Die Hard” franchise if this 4th sequel proves lucrative, so this would be a big get for whoever lands it, similar to Jeremy Renner’s role opposite Tom Cruise in “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.” Let’s just all be thankful Renner is too old to play Willis’ son… isn’t he?