The long-running debate over whether Die Hard counts as a Christmas movie has a new voice — and it’s Kevin McCallister himself.
For years, fans have argued over whether the 1988 action movie starring Bruce Willis qualifies as a holiday film. Supporters point to its Christmas timeline and festive setting, while naysayers insist it’s simply an action movie that happens to take place in December.
In a recent interview for Mythical Kitchen’s Last Meals YouTube series, Macaulay Culkin — star of the definitive 1990 Christmas classic Home Alone — weighed in on the controversy.
“No, it’s not. It’s based around Christmas,” Culkin quickly responded when asked whether Die Hard was a Christmas movie. “Don’t fight me. It’s based around Christmas, but if it was also St. Patrick’s Day, it would work.”
“But you couldn’t do, like, Memorial Day Home Alone, no,” he continued. “It doesn’t work that way. I’m just saying. Look, I’m kind of the godfather of Christmas nowadays, so yes, my opinion has some sway in this.”
The debate quickly spilled into the comments, with some users arguing that Home Alone itself is also merely “based around Christmas” — and could theoretically take place during another holiday.
“If Home Alone is a Christmas movie, Die Hard is just that in an adult font,” one commenter wrote. “Kevin’s family could still leave him for a weekend for Memorial weekend while they went to a lake house, and the house gets robbed.”
“Die Hard does NOT work around any other holiday,” another commenter argued. “John would never go to LA for any other holiday, and the terrorist plans revolve specifically around the Christmas party at Nakatomi, and no other holiday has companies throwing serious parties like that.”
However, others came to Culkin’s defense.
“The point isn’t when it happens, it’s about the themes,” one supporter wrote. “Home Alone is a Christmas movie because it’s about coming together as a family. That’s the point of the movie, Kevin learns that no matter how much he is angry with his family, he still cherishes them. There are no Christmas themes in Die Hard, therefore it’s not a Christmas movie.”
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In 2020, Die Hard’s director, John McTiernan, finally weighed in on the debate in a video posted by the American Film Institute.
“We hadn’t intended it to be a Christmas movie, but the joy that came from it is what turned it into a Christmas movie,” he said, noting that he drew inspiration from the moment in Frank Capra’s Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, when Bedford Falls becomes Pottersville.
Whether Die Hard is festive canon or just yuletide-adjacent, one thing seems certain: as long as Christmas rolls around, so too will the annual argument — now with Kevin McCallister firmly on the record.