Home Alone Star Macaulay Culkin Insists Die Hard Is NOT a Christmas Movie — but What Do You Think?

Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? The Bruce Willis enactment movie classical is simply a regular ticker astir this clip of year, since it’s acceptable during Christmas (the movie starts connected Christmas Eve, with Willis’ quality John McClane landing successful LA to walk Christmas with his estranged wife). But its presumption arsenic an official Christmas movie has been hotly debated for decades. Well, there’s 1 high-profile histrion who thinks Die Hard is precise overmuch NOT a Christmas movie — and helium should know, arsenic the prima of Home Alone.

Macaulay Culkin played Kevin McCallister successful 2 of the champion Christmas movies ever made: Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost successful New York, truthful you’d deliberation he’d cognize a happening oregon 2 astir what makes a Christmas movie a Christmas movie. And for him, Die Hard doesn’t acceptable the bill.

“No it’s not. It’s based astir Christmas. Don’t combat — combat maine connected the moon!” Culkin insisted during an interrogation with Mythical Kitchen. “It’s based astir Christmas, but if it was besides St. Patrick’s Day, it would inactive be… it would work. But you couldn’t bash similar a Memorial Day Home Alone. Nah, it doesn’t enactment that way.”

He added: “Listen, I’m benignant of the godfather of Christmas nowadays. Yes, my sentiment has immoderate sway successful this argument.”

This isn’t the archetypal clip Culkin has expressed his views connected Die Hard’s status. Last month, Culkin was really booed by an assemblage for saying it wasn’t. Speaking astatine A Nostalgic Night with Macaulay Culkin to observe the 35th day of Home Alone, the 45-year-old histrion said: "I know. Some of you guys privation to combat me, I’ll conscionable you astatine the loading dock, but it’s conscionable a movie that’s acceptable astatine Christmas. If you acceptable it astatine St. Patrick's Day, the nonstop aforesaid movie. But you acceptable Home Alone astatine St. Patrick's Day..."

Culkin, who stars successful Fallout Season 2 connected Prime Video, has surely raised a fewer eyebrows with his comments, but it’s worthy remembering that successful 2017, Steven E. de Souza, who wrote Die Hard, took to societal media to gag that Die Hard is successful information a Christmas movie “because the workplace rejected the Purim draft.”

And erstwhile 1 societal media idiosyncratic asked however Die Hard could beryllium considered a Christmas movie erstwhile it came retired successful the summertime of 1988, de Souza replied to constituent retired that Miracle connected 34th Street, possibly the definitive Christmas movie, came retired successful the summertime of 1947.

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de Souza added. “Plus a pistillate astir to springiness commencement features prominently.”

Speaking to People successful 2024, A Christmas Story prima Peter Billingsley said Die Hard cinematographer, Jan de Bont, offered 1 crushed wherefore Die Hard is simply a Christmas movie:

“I deliberation what sold [de Bont] is I said, ‘That narration betwixt John McClane and his estranged wife, they're fractured, but by the end, they larn to forgive each other. There’s hope, there’s joy, and they’re going to spell and person a large Christmas greeting with their kids.

“Not to notation there’s Christmas songs, and they person the snowfall falling. In my sentiment it is simply a Christmas movie.”

Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? YOU DECIDE! Photo by 20th Century-Fox/Getty Images.

Director John McTiernan has besides weighed in, telling the American Film Institute successful 2020: “We hadn’t intended it to beryllium a Christmas movie, but the joyousness that came from it is what turned it into a Christmas movie."

Perhaps the last connection should spell to Bruce Willis himself. In Comedy Central’s 2018 Roast of Bruce Willis, the prima joked: “I did this roast for 1 crushed and for 1 crushed only, to settee thing erstwhile and for all. Now, delight perceive precise carefully: Die Hard is not a Christmas movie! It’s a goddamn Bruce Willis movie.”

But what bash you think? Give our poll, below, asking this astir important of Christmas questions a go, past instrumentality to the comments to connection your expanded thoughts!

Photo by 20th Century-Fox/Getty Images.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].