As a seasoned movie star on vacation, Peter Billingsley is not without his own opinion when it comes to whether or not to die Hard is a Christmas movie.
In the episode A cinematic Christmas journey podcast, the 52-year-old actor — who famously starred in the A Christmas story and appeared in other holiday hits, such as Dwarf and Four Christmases – and co-host Steve Byrne talked about it all die Hard using cinematographer Jan de Bont.
“You know Jan de Bont’s work – he directed Twister and Speed up,” Billingsley tells PEOPLE. “I saw some of his quotes that he didn’t believe die Hard was a Christmas movie. He said, ‘I just don’t see it.’ So I said, ‘Would 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.’ ”
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Although die Hard released in theaters during the summer of 1988, the film — 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 mean what was sold [de Bont] I said, ‘That relationship between John McClane and his estranged wife, they’re broken, but in the end, they learn to forgive each other. There’s hope, there’s joy, and they’re going to go and have a great Christmas morning with their kids,” says Billingsley.
“Not to mention that there are Christmas songs, and in them it is snowing. In my opinion, it’s a Christmas movie,” he adds.
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 out of it is what made it a Christmas movie,” he told the American Film Institute in 2020.
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Jan de Bont, John McTiernan and Bruce Willis.
20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock
However, during the 2018 Comedy Central Roasting Bruce Willisthe star has finally made his contribution 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 please listen carefully: die Hard not a christmas movie! It’s a bloody Bruce Willis movie.”
Despite Willis’ opinion, Billingsley convinced de Bont otherwise.
“I passed my benchmark,” Billingsley tells PEOPLE. — And he said: ‘I never thought of it that way.’ He said, ‘Now you’ve got me convinced it’s a Christmas movie.’ And I said: ‘Yes!’ So I was able to change the director’s mind, which was cool.”
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Source: HIS Education