Between Thanksgiving and the New Year each year, “Die Hard” screenwriter Steven E. de Souza experiences a spike in popularity.
“Every Christmas, I’m Tom Cruise,” de Souza told the Deseret News.
Although there’s scant evidence to support claims that “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie — save a handful of “Merry Christmas” wishes exchanged during the action and a smattering of Christmas decorations — it has earned a place among Christmas classics, de Souza believes.
According to him, “Die Hard” is “absolutely” a Christmas movie. “This is not my opinion,” he added, “‘Die Hard’ is a Christmas movie.”
De Souza spent two days at Utah Valley University last week providing students with seminars and insights from his decadeslong film career.
In addition to “Die Hard,” de Souza wrote “Commando,” “48 Hrs.” and “The Running Man.”
Over the next year, de Souza will mentor eight UVU students on screenwriting as part of the Green Room program — a student mentorship program launched in 2024 through UVU and FanX Studios, as previously reported by the Deseret News.
On Wednesday night, de Souza presented the eight winning students with their Brandon Fugal Fellowship awards and hosted an exclusive theatrical screening of “Die Hard.”
De Souza said that when he saw a first rough cut of “Die Hard,” he “knew the film was working really well,” but did not anticipate the enduring appeal it would have on audiences.
In an effort to quash any fears “Die Hard” would be a theatrical flop, the film’s producer Joel Silver said, “Whether this movie is successful in movie theaters or not, we’ll always get a rerun check every Christmas because some TV station will run it,” de Souza recalled.
Silver worked with de Souza on “Die Hard,” “Commando” and other projects.
“I had no idea how prophetic he was with those words,” de Souza said last week.
‘Die Hard’ is not an action movie, de Souza says
After categorizing “Die Hard” as a Christmas movie, de Souza declared “Die Hard” is “not an action movie.”
“This category of action movie is a nonsense category, and it was kind of invented, really in the ’80s,” de Souza said.
He considers “Die Hard” to be “a thriller heist movie.”
“I would like to retire the action movie definition and return to the old standards of a drama, a comedy, a romance, a historical, but it’s not going to happen. I’m a dreamer.”