
Bruce Willis in 1988's Die Hard.
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Twentieth Century Fox has chosen sides.
On Tuesday, the studio released a new cut of the Die Hard trailer, arguing that not only is it a Christmas movie, it is “the greatest Christmas story ever told.”
The new trailer is almost 90 seconds in length and is cut to be more of a comedy — like Home Alone — than a classic action flick. The campy voiceover and upbeat music help push the argument that the 1988 film is indeed a Christmas romp.
That debate has (jokingly) raged on for years. Star Bruce Willis dealt a massive blow to the argument that the film is a holiday staple when, during his Comedy Central Roast in July, he closed the evening declaring that Die Hard is not a Christmas pic: “It’s a fucking Bruce Willis movie!”
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Asked afterward by The Hollywood Reporter how he thought fans would take the news, the actor responded, “We’ll see.”
On Wednesday, IFC announced the channel would be running an all-day Die Hard marathon on Christmas hosted by star Reginald VelJohnson. In the preview for the upcoming event (watch below), VelJohnson lays down his arguments for why Die Hard is a Christmas movie.
A recent study conducted by StreamingObserver showed that Die Hard was the most searched Christmas film streaming wise for multiple states.
The site — which covers news, reviews and other topics related to streaming entertainment — created a map using data from Rotten Tomatoes (top 50 Christmas movies) and Google Trends (statewide search frequencies) and worked with partners Mindnet Analytics to determine each state’s favorite Christmas film (not necessarily the movie searched for more than all others, but the one searched for more relative to other states), according to Chris Brantner, editor in chief of StreamingObserver.
Die Hard was the top film for these four states: Washington, Missouri, Wisconsin and Virginia.
Watch the recut trailer and IFC preview, below.
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