Is ‘Die Hard’ a Christmas movie? Why the action flick starring Bruce Willis is still a holiday fan favorite

As a seasoned holiday movie star, Peter Billingsley is not without his own opinion when it comes to whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie.

In an episode from 2023 of A cinematic Christmas journey podcastthe actor – who famously starred in A Christmas story (1983) and appeared in other holiday hits such as Elf (2003) and Four Christmases (2008) – and co-host Steve Byrne discussed all things Die Hard by means of the film’s biographer, Jan de Bont.

“You know Jan de Bont’s work – he directed Twister and Speed“, Billingsley tells PEOPLE. “I had seen some quotes from him that he didn’t believe Die Hard was a Christmas movie. He said, ‘I just can’t see it.’ So I said, ‘Do you mind if I try to convince you why this is a Christmas movie? I know you made it. I know you’ve lived with it for a very long time, since 1988.’ He said, ‘Okay.’ ”

Read below to see Billingsley’s reasons why Die Hard should exist in the holiday movie canon.

Why should Die Hard qualify as a Christmas movie?

Although Die Hard hit theaters during the summer of 1988, the film’s action – about a New York City police detective (played by Bruce Willis) who gets caught up in a terrorist takeover of a Los Angeles skyscraper – takes place on Christmas Eve.

“I think what sold (de Bont) is that I said, ‘That relationship between John McClane and his estranged wife, they’re broken, but eventually they learn to forgive each other. There’s hope , there is joy and they are going to go out and have a good Christmas morning with their children,” says Billingsley.

“Not to mention there are carols and they have the snow falling. In my opinion, it is a Christmas movie,” he adds.

Consider the director and the star Die Hard a Christmas movie?

Die Hard director John McTiernan agrees with fans and critics who categorize Die Hard as a holiday movie. “We didn’t intend for it to be a Christmas movie, but the joy that came from it is what made it a Christmas movie,” he told the American Film Institute in 2020.

But during Comedy Central’s 2018 Fried by Bruce Willisthe star finally gave his input to Die Hard debate 30 years after the film’s release. “I did this roast for one reason and one reason only, to settle something once and for all,” Willis said. “Now listen very carefully: Die Hard is not a Christmas movie! It’s a goddamn Bruce Willis movie.”

Has Peter Billingsley swayed Jan de Bont on Die Hard as a holiday classic?

Despite Willis’ opinion, Billingsley convinced de Bont otherwise.

“I went through my criteria,” Billingsley tells PEOPLE. “And he said, ‘I never thought about it that way.’ He said, ‘You’ve now convinced me that it’s a Christmas movie.’ And I thought, ‘Yes!’ So I was able to change a filmmaker’s mind, which was cool.”

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