Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? America says no

Bruce Willis.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Most Americans aren't interested in being welcomed to the "Die Hard is a Christmas movie" party.

In a Morning Consult poll published Tuesday, 62 percent of American adults said they don't consider Die Hard, the 1988 action classic starring Bruce Willis, a Christmas movie. Meanwhile, 25 percent said it is, and 13 percent said they weren't sure or had no opinion.

Older respondents were a lot more opposed to the film's much-debated festive status than younger ones. A full 78 percent of Americans over 65 said Die Hard isn't a Christmas movie, while only 50 percent of those between 18 and 29 said it's not. Additionally, 32 percent of men feel it's a Christmas movie compared to only 20 percent of women. Overall, just 28 percent of respondents said they even associate the film with the holidays at all, whereas 61 percent said they don't associate the two things.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The plot might not really have anything to do with Christmas, and it may have been originally released in the summer, but fans have in recent years contended that Die Hard should count as a holiday film; it takes place on Christmas Eve, after all, and the soundtrack is full of festive music. Last year, the film's screenwriter even weighed in on the debate, confirming he considers it to be a Christmas movie. But based on these poll results, it appears that argument has fallen upon deaf ears.

The poll surveyed 2,200 adults from Nov. 15-18. The margin of error is 2 percentage points. Read more at Morning Consult.

Explore More
Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.