#Die Hard Rerelease Cracks Box Office Top Ten Just Before Christmas

Die Hard has re-entered the top ten at the box office more than 30 years after its initial release, just before Christmas. The 1988 action classic was re-released in theaters recently and has proved to be a relatively popular option for moviegoers, considering that the box office is hanging on by a thread at the moment. Be that as it may, the Bruce Willis flick that introduced us to John McClane is once again bringing in the dough.

At the domestic box office, Die Hard pulled in an estimated $189,000 over the weekend. That put it just above Tenet ($180,000) to have it crack the top ten. Directed by John McTiernan, the movie originally grossed $141 million worldwide upon its initial release, working from a budget of just $28 million. So, relative to what it’s made previously, that may be a drop in the bucket. But it’s a drop that Disney, who purchased all of Fox last year and gained the rights to the franchise, could use right now, as the box office for the entirety of 2020 has been, to put it lightly, rough.
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This may also serve to stir the pot for those who argue over Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Yes, the movie does take place around Christmas. But it is not necessarily about Christmas. That is a sticking point for many. The argument has persisted for years to no end. But the fact that the studio chose to re-release it around the holiday season, and that it is performing well, indicates that quite a few people at least associate it with Christmas. It is by no means enough to firmly end the debate. It merely serves to add more fuel to the fire.

Die Hard helped turn Bruce Willis into a true movie star. As New York City policeman John McClane, Willis duked it out with Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber and his deadly band of terrorists, with entertaining results. John is visiting his estranged wife Holly and two daughters on Christmas Eve, taking part in her company’s holiday party, located at Nakatomi Plaza. But the festivities are interrupted by these terrorists who take over the building, taking everyone in it as hostages. Save for McClane, who ends up becoming a one-man army to save the day.

A series of sequels, Die Hard 2, Die Hard: With a Vengeance, Live Free or Die Hard and A Good Day to Die Hard, followed in the ensuing years. To date, the franchise has earned more than $1.4 billion at the global box office. The franchise has been dormant since 2013. Recently, Bruce Willis Reprised his role as John McClane for a DieHard battery commercial. A new movie, which was at least at one point going to be a prequel, has been in development for years but has yet to get off the ground. Its fate now rests in the hands of Disney. These numbers come to us via Box Office Mojo.

Topics: Die Hard, Box Office, Movie Theaters