The 1988 action classic Die Hard was shot at Fox Plaza in Los Angeles.Filming took place on unfinished floors of the high rise, which also held offices for Fox lawyers and executives.The plaza is now called 2121 Avenue of the Stars, and was visited by star Bruce Willis in 2022.

With the argument over whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie settled once and for all, we can focus on more important questions.

You know, questions like: Why doesn’t Hans know what Takagi looks like? Who would ever buy that abominable lightning-bolt conference table? Where is the real Nakatomi Plaza — and was Die Hard actually filmed inside it?

While we’ll never know the answers to the first two questions — though we can guess the answers are “who cares” and “no one,” respectively — we can answer the third inquiry.

Read on to learn about the real Nakatomi Tower (and if it’s still standing).

Where was Die Hard filmed?

Fox Plaza, as seen in ‘Die Hard’.

20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection

Fox Plaza, which was owned by 20th Century Fox, was the real-life location of Die Hard’s fictional Nakatomi Plaza and its sky-scraping Nakatomi Tower. The 34-story, 493-foot building is located in Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles.

As detailed in Netflix’s The Movies That Made Us, the building was operational, with Fox lawyers and corporate offices on many of the floors. But, as is also true of the film’s Nakatomi Tower, several floors were still under construction. It was on these floors that Die Hard was allowed to shoot.

“The building itself is a character in the movie, so the character had to be seen and showcased,” said cinematographer Jan de Bont in a 2018 chat with SlashFilm. “You needed the building to have character, and at the same time, we needed a building that was available and was partially empty. So it was fantastic that, after all the locations we looked at, that was right next to us the whole time.”

He continued, “What is so fantastic about that building, I think there were four or five stories occupied at the time, and many stories were still under construction. So we could use all of the floors that were not built yet and use them as set pieces.”

Bruce Willis in ‘Die Hard’.

Peter Sorel/Fox

The issue? Die Hard is a loud movie, booming with machine gun fire and explosions. “It was so loud. The people who were occupying the building, they were really mad at us,” said de Bont in The Movies That Made Us.

Director John McTiernan added, “There was one bunch of lawyers on the 25th floor; we’d do any gunshots or anything and they’d go nuts.”

As such, any scenes involving loud noises had to be shot after 5 p.m. But that, of course, rankled the building’s neighbors, as did the lights filling the sky each night.

Is Die Hard’s Nakatomi Plaza still standing?

Fox Plaza in 2020 in Los Angeles.

AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images; Getty

It sure is, though now it’s called 2121 Avenue of the Stars. While it still operates as an office building for 20th Century Fox (now called 20th Century Studios), it’s also become a site of interest for fans of Die Hard. To celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary in 2018, a public screening was held at the foot of the skyscraper.

Bruce Willis, who stars in the film as yippie-ki-yaying detective John McClane, visited the building in 2022, climbing up to the roof where his character nearly died a half-dozen times.

The building can also be seen in movies like Airheads (1994) and Fight Club (1999), as well as the 2024 Marvel film Deadpool & Wolverine, which was pointed out by director Shawn Levy in a chat with Entertainment Weekly.

Where can I watch Die Hard?

Die Hard is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Peacock.

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