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Die Hard (1988) Original Trailer

Die Hard(1988)
Released
1988 · FILM

Die Hard

A down-on-his-luck NYPD detective must save his wife and take down a cunning terrorist mastermind who's seized control of a skyscraper on Christmas Eve, using only his wits and a dwindling supply of bullets.

“40 stories of sheer adventure!”

Directed by
John Mctiernan, Michael Alan Kahn
Written by
Roderick Thorp, Jeb Stuart
Rated
FSK · FSK 16
Runtime
132 min
ActionThriller
Streaming on
  • AMC+
  • Philo

Synopsis

High above the city of Los Angeles, a team of terrorists has seized a building, taken hostages, and declared war. One man manages to escape—an off-duty cop hiding somewhere inside. He's alone, tired, and the only chance anyone has.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Writers
Directors

Related titles

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

A crew of 253+ credited

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by John F LinkShot by Jan De BontScored by Michael KamenDesigned by Jackson De GoviaSound by Don BassmanCostumes by Jacqueline G ArthurVFX by Richard Edlund

Box Office

1988 · Box office

💰 Box-office hit — grossed 5.0× its budget

Why 2.5×?

Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).

Worldwide gross

$140.8M

Budget$28.0M
Worldwide gross$140.8M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $83.0M — 59% of worldwide · International: $57.8M (41%)

Opening weekend: $602K — 1% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.

Opening week (7-day): $3.0M — 4% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 21 theaters

Compare across the franchise →

Re-release box office

20231,355 theaters
$3.3M($3.6M today)
20201,172 theaters
$650K($831K today)
2018687 theaters
$832K($1.1M today)
Total re-release
$4.8M

Domestic gross earned in theatrical re-release, by year · adjusted for inflation

Full synopsis

Also known as

  • Stirb langsamde
  • Piège de cristalfr
  • Die Hard: Trappola di cristalloit
  • Trappola di cristalloit
  • (Bulgarian)Умирай трудно
Release dates around the world2 countries · show
  • United StatesJul 12, 1988
  • CanadaJul 20, 1988

Companies

Production20th Century Fox, Gordon Company, Silver Pictures

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