The Real Reason Home Alone's Director Thinks The Reboot Is A 'Waste Of Time'
Directed by Chris Columbus and written by John Hughes, "Home Alone" is a classic amongst holiday films — and, really, amongst films in general. If you somehow haven't seen the 1990 comedy, the hilarious and brilliant premise sees a young kid, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), accidentally get left behind when his family leaves for vacation, leaving him, well, home alone. He soon finds himself confronting two burglars, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), who show up expecting the house to be empty.
"Home Alone" was a critical and commercial success — it made nearly $286 million in worldwide box office sales, far surpassing its $18 million budget (via Box Office Mojo). Naturally, the film received a sequel, "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York," which was released in 1992. Columbus and Hughes both returned to direct and write the sequel, respectively.
Flash forward a few decades and in December of 2019, Variety reported that a "Home Alone" reboot was in the works for Disney+ with "Jojo Rabbit" breakout Archie Yates set to star alongside Ellie Kemper and Rob Delaney. The new film is set to be released to the streaming service on November 12 (via Variety).
As it turns out, there's one person who likely won't be watching the upcoming remake — the original film's director, Columbus, who had some harsh words to say about the idea of trying to remake a classic.
Columbus says "lightning in a bottle" won't happen twice
In 2020, Chris Columbus spoke with Insider about the 30th anniversary of "Home Alone." When asked if he was involved with the remake, Columbus revealed that nobody from the project reached out to him to ask him to participate in any way.
Columbus then detailed why he's against the idea of remaking the film — and of many reboots in general. He said, "it's a waste of time as far as I'm concerned. What's the point? I'm a firm believer that you don't remake films that have had the longevity of 'Home Alone.' You're not going to create lightning in a bottle again. It's just not going to happen. So why do it? It's like doing a paint-by-numbers version of a Disney animated film — a live-action version of that. What's the point? It's been done. Do your own thing. Even if you fail miserably, at least you have come up with something original."
He also addressed the ways in which he went against his own beliefs with the "Home Alone" sequel. He continued, "I can even be accused of it myself, with 'Home Alone 2.' That movie is basically a remake of the first 'Home Alone.' Does it need to exist? Yes, because some of those stunts make me laugh really hard, but I just don't believe it should be done ... I just feel, do something new. Life is short."