Editing Die Hard (section)

==Release==
===Context===
{{see also|1988 in film}}
[[File:Die Hard logo.png|thumb|alt=The logo for Die Hard with Bruce Willis's name positioned above|The logo for ''Die Hard'']]
The summer of 1988 was expected by film industry executives to be dominated by action and comedy films, although a broader range of films were released that year.<ref name="NYTimesPreview"/><ref name="NYTImesAssessment"/> More films targeted older audiences rather than teenagers, a reflection of the increasing age of the average audience member.<ref name="NYTImesAssessment"/> Sequels to successful films, ''[[Crocodile Dundee II]]'' and ''[[Rambo III]]'', were predicted to control the May box office and break opening weekend revenue records. Industry executives also had high expectations for the comedies ''[[Coming to America]]'' and ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]''.<ref name="NYTimesPreview"/>

Expectations for ''Die Hard'' were low compared to its action film competition—the Schwarzenegger-starring ''[[Red Heat (1988 film)|Red Heat]]'' and Clint Eastwood's ''[[The Dead Pool]]''. ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted that ''Die Hard'', and the comedies ''[[Big Top Pee-wee]]'' and ''[[Bull Durham]]'', would be closely scrutinized by the industry for success or failure. ''Die Hard'' was singled out for Willis's salary, and the failure earlier that year of his previous film, the western ''[[Sunset (1988 film)|Sunset]]'', which brought into question his leading man capabilities.<ref name="NYTimesPreview"/> Lawrence Gordon agreed that not using a major action star like Stallone or Eastwood meant audience interest in ''Die Hard'' was lower than it might have been. The larger salaries paid to these stars were based on the built-in audience they could attract to a film's opening week, with good word of mouth supporting the film thereafter, but Willis did not have a built-in audience.<ref name="NYTimesPostRelease"/>

===Marketing===
Willis featured prominently in the film's early marketing campaign, but it underwent several changes as the film's release date drew nearer.<ref name="DevOtherActors"/><ref name="NYTimesPostRelease"/><ref name="LATImesAdvertising"/> Willis had developed a reputation as an "arrogant" actor concerned with his own fame. His refusal to address this, or speak about his personal life to the media, had reinforced this perception. For his part, Willis said that he wanted the media to focus on his acting.<ref name="CloserWillis"/>{{sfn|WillisteinD|1988|p=50 D}} There were reports that cinema audiences would moan at Willis's appearance in ''Die Hard'' trailers, and that a representative from an unnamed theater chain had pulled the trailer in response.<ref name="LATImesAdvertising"/> Research by several film studios revealed that audiences had a negative opinion of Willis overall and little or no interest in seeing him in ''Die Hard''.<ref name="NYTimesPostRelease"/> ''[[Newsweek]]''{{'}}s [[David Ansen]] called Willis "the most unpopular actor ever to get $5{{nbsp}}million for making a movie".<ref name="VultureRetro"/>

As 20th Century Fox's confidence in Willis's appeal faltered, the film's posters were changed to focus on Nakatomi Plaza, with Willis's name billed in tiny print.<ref name="DevOtherActors"/><ref name="LATImesAdvertising"/> Willis's image was not included in the film's first full-page newspaper advertisement in mid-July.<ref name="NYTimesPostRelease"/> 20th Century Fox executive [[Tom Sherak]] denied that Willis was being hidden, saying their marketing strategy had changed when they realized that the building was as important a character as the actor.<ref name="LATImesAdvertising"/> Defying expectations, sneak previews of the film were well received by audiences,<ref name="NYTimesPostRelease"/> and the week following its release, the advertising began featuring Willis more prominently.<ref name="NYTimesPostRelease"/> Despite his dislike of interviews, Willis appeared on several daytime shows to promote the film. Explaining why he was more involved in the promotion for ''Die Hard'', Willis said, "I'm so excited about this film... To me, it represents why I wanted to be an actor."<ref name="CloserWillis"/><ref name="LATImesAdvertising"/>

===Box office===
''Die Hard''{{'}}s premiere took place on July{{nbsp}}12, 1988, at the Avco theater in Los Angeles, California.<ref name="Premiere"/> In North America, the film received a limited release in 21 theaters in 13 cities on July{{nbsp}}15, 1988, earning $601,851—an average of $28,659 per theater.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|page=1|title=Fox Pushing 'Hard' Bow Back 2 Weeks|date=May 14, 1990}}</ref> It was considered a successful debut with a high per-theater average gross.<ref name="NYTimesDebut"/> The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' said that the late change in advertising focus and diminishing popularity for action films should have worked against ''Die Hard''. Instead, positive reviews and the limited release had made it a "must-see" film.<ref name="LATimesDebutWeek"/>

It received a wide release the following week on July{{nbsp}}22, 1988, across 1,276 theaters, and earning $7.1{{nbsp}}million—an average of $5,569 per theater. The film finished as the number three film of the weekend, behind ''Coming to America'' ($8.8{{nbsp}}million)—in its fourth week of release—and ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' ($8.9{{nbsp}}million), in its fifth.<ref name="TheNumbersWeekofJuly22"/> The film fell to number four in its third week with a further gross of $6.1{{nbsp}}million, just behind ''Coming to America'' ($6.4{{nbsp}}million), ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' ($6.5{{nbsp}}million) and the debuting romantic comedy ''[[Cocktail (1988 film)|Cocktail]]'' ($11.7{{nbsp}}million).<ref name="TheNumbersWeek3"/> In its fourth weekend, it rebounded to the number three position with $5.7{{nbsp}}million.<ref name="TheNumbersOveralL"/> While the film never claimed the number-one box office ranking, it spent ten straight weeks among the top five highest-grossing films.<ref name="VultureRetro"/><ref name="TheNumbersOveralL"/> In total, the film earned an approximate box office gross of between $81.3{{nbsp}}million and $83{{nbsp}}million.<ref name="TheNumbersSummary"/><ref name="BOMWorldwide"/> This made it the seventh-highest-grossing film of 1988, behind ''Crocodile Dundee II'' ($109.3{{nbsp}}million), buddy comedy ''Twins'' ($111.9{{nbsp}}million), fantasy-comedy ''[[Big (film)|Big]]'' ($114.9{{nbsp}}million), ''Coming to America'' ($128.1{{nbsp}}million), ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' ($154.1{{nbsp}}million) and comedy-drama ''[[Rain Man]]'' ($172.8{{nbsp}}million).<ref name="TheNumbers1988Domestic"/>

Outside North America, ''Die Hard'' is estimated to have earned $57.7{{nbsp}}million, giving it an approximate cumulative gross of between $139.1{{nbsp}}million and $140.7{{nbsp}}million.<ref name="TheNumbersSummary"/><ref name="BOMWorldwide"/>{{efn|The 1988 box office of $139.1–$140.7{{nbsp}}million is equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|139100000|1988}}}}–${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|140700000|1988}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}.}} This figure makes it the [[1988 in film|tenth-highest-grossing film worldwide of 1988]] behind ''Big'' ($151{{nbsp}}million), ''Cocktail'' ($171{{nbsp}}million), ''[[A Fish Called Wanda]]'' ($177{{nbsp}}million), ''Rambo III'' ($189{{nbsp}}million), ''Twins'' ($216{{nbsp}}million), ''Crocodile Dundee II'' ($239{{nbsp}}million), ''Coming to America'' ($288{{nbsp}}million), ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' ($329{{nbsp}}million) and ''Rain Man'' ($354{{nbsp}}million).<ref name="BOMWorldwide"/><ref name="TheNumbersWorldwide"/>{{sfn|Groves|1989|p=11}}{{efn|[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]] and [[Box Office Mojo]] provide North American box office figures, but they do not include the international figures for many 1988 films. When failing to take into account the international grosses of some films, ''Die Hard'' is the eighth-highest-grossing film worldwide of 1988. Based on other industry reports in 1988 by ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', the worldwide grosses of ''[[Cocktail (1988 film)|Cocktail]]'' and ''[[A Fish Called Wanda]]'' were greater than ''Die Hard''{{'}}s, lowering it to the tenth-highest-grossing film overall.<ref name="BOMWorldwide"/><ref name="TheNumbersWorldwide"/>{{sfn|Groves|1989|p=11}}}}

The summer of 1988 saw box office grosses totaling $1.7{{nbsp}}billion, breaking the previous year's record-breaking summer by $100{{nbsp}}million,<ref name="NYTImesAssessment"/> and it was the most successful summer since 1984, when only three films earned more than $100{{nbsp}}million in North America.<ref name="LATimesSummerReview"/> Defying pre-release expectations ''Die Hard'' was considered an enormous success.<ref name=Independent1/><ref name="LATimesSummerReview"/> In a year otherwise dominated by comedy films, ''Die Hard''{{'}}s overperformance was an anomaly compared to other action films such as ''Rambo III'' and ''Red Heat'', which failed to meet box office expectations.<ref name="EbertSeitz"/><ref name="NYTimesComedy"/> Film critic [[Sheila Benson]] believed this demonstrated a generational shift in audiences and their tastes; in particular, 25- to 37-year-old men had turned against alcohol abuse, sexism, and mindless machismo.<ref name="LATimesBenson"/> Along with films like ''Big'' and ''[[Young Guns (film)|Young Guns]]'' (1988), ''Die Hard'' is credited with revitalizing 20th Century Fox, which had had few successes in preceding years. It also showed the action genre was not "dead".<ref name="NYTImesAssessment"/>