Posted in: 20th Century Studios, Movies | Tagged: 20th century studios, chris columbus, Home Alone

Home Alone Director Sheds Light on the Sequel Idea That Didn't Happen

The director of the iconic 1990 holiday flick Home Alone reveals the one sequel idea that he was previously interested in exploring.

Released in 1990, Home Alone is a holiday comedy from director Chris Columbus and writer John Hughes about eight-year-old Kevin McCallister, who is accidentally left behind when his family flies to Paris and turns his Chicago house into a booby-trapped fortress against burglars Harry and Marv. It even became the highest-grossing film of 1990, earning about $476 million worldwide on a budget of $18 million, and eventually turned into a full franchise with multiple sequels and reboots.

Over the years, the original has settled into true classic status, a movie that still dominates holiday watch lists and even inspires tourism to the real house in Illinois. And in the last decade, legacy sequels have become their own trend, with long-dormant hits returning in new chapters like Halloween in 2018, Top Gun: Maverick, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife. So, with that wave of revival talk across every genre, it makes sense that Home Alone is in the same conversation. In fact, according to Columbus, the pitches have been coming for years.

The Director of Home Alone is Only Interested in One Specific Sequel Idea

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, he explained that only one notion ever truly tempted him, a story that would bring back the Wet Bandits and Kevin in a more straightforward continuation. As he put it, "They're bitter, they're angry, and they want revenge. And who do they want revenge on? Macaulay. And at that point, I thought Macaulay could have a kid, sort of Kevin's age, and it would be his own kid dealing with these two guys. I don't think Joe Pesci would be interested. I haven't seen Dan Stern since 1992. I don't know if he would be interested. The problem is when you're doing a film like this, a lot of it is really based on cast, part of it is based on the cast at that age, at that particular time, and I don't think you can duplicate that."

Recent entries like Home Alone: The Holiday Heist and Home Sweet Home Alone have already shown how tricky it is to recapture the original spark. Columbus himself has called some of those later sequels misfires and has been open about how special circumstances made the first two work. But given the film's premise and Columbus's reluctance, it's starting to feel like one of those rare cases where leaving the story as it is might be the right call. Home Alone already has its place in movie history, so maybe the best way to honor that is to revisit it every December as opposed to rebuilding it from scratch.

What are your thoughts on a true Home Alone sequel at this point?

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!