Home Alone (franchise)

"Kevin McCallister" redirects here. For the similarly named guitarist, see Incite (band).

Home Alone
File:Home Alone - official logo.jpg Official franchise logo
Created by	John Hughes
Original work	Home Alone (1990)
Owner	20th Century Studios (The Walt Disney Company)
Years	1990–present
Films and television
Film(s)	Home Alone (1990) Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) Home Alone 3 (1997)
Television film(s)	Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House (2002) Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (2012) Home Sweet Home Alone (2021)
Games
Video game(s)	Home Alone (1991) Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) Home Alone (2006)

Home Alone is a series of American Christmas family comedy films originally created by John Hughes, and directed by Chris Columbus (1 and 2), Raja Gosnell (3), Rod Daniel (4), Peter Hewitt (5), and Dan Mazer (6). The films revolve around the adventures surrounding children who find themselves alone during the holiday season and are faced with the challenge of defending their family's house or themselves from invading burglars and criminals.

The first three films were released theatrically by 20th Century Fox, while the following three made-for-TV movies were produced by The Walt Disney Company and aired on Disney-owned ABC; following Disney's 2019 acquisition of 20th Century Fox's entertainment assets, all rights to the Home Alone franchise are owned by Disney.

Films

Film	U.S. release date	Director(s)	Screenwriter(s)	Producer(s)
Home Alone	November 16, 1990	Chris Columbus	John Hughes	John Hughes
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York	November 20, 1992
Home Alone 3	December 12, 1997	Raja Gosnell		John Hughes and Hilton A. Green
Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House	November 3, 2002	Rod Daniel	Debra Frank and Steve L. Hayes	Mitch Engel
Home Alone: The Holiday Heist	November 25, 2012	Peter Hewitt	Aaron Ginsburg and Wade McIntyre	Kim Todd
Home Sweet Home Alone	November 12, 2021	Dan Mazer	Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell	Hutch Parker and Dan Wilson

Home Alone (1990)

Main article: Home Alone

Home Alone is primarily a coming-of-age story about an 8-year-old boy named Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin). He is the youngest of five children who is frequently tormented by his older brothers and sisters. After events transpire between him and his family, he wishes that he had no family when his mother is punishing him for what he feels are unjustified reasons. She warns him to be careful what he wishes for and he ignores it. He wakes up the next day to discover that he is the only one left in the house. He thinks his wish came true and that he is finally alone without his obnoxious family. In reality, he was left home by mistake. His family is en route to France for a holiday trip. While his parents realize their mistake and scramble to get back to the United States, Harry and Marv, a pair of thieves known as the "Wet Bandits", attempt to burglarize the house. Kevin makes it seem like the house is not empty and fills the house with a collection of homemade booby traps. Kevin manages to trap the bandits and they get arrested, just as his family return home. The film became the highest-grossing film of 1990, grossing $476,684,675 worldwide. The film received positive reviews from critics. It was popular with audiences. It was also nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Original Score for John Williams and Best Original Song for "Somewhere in My Memory", but lost to Dances with Wolves and Dick Tracy respectively. Macaulay Culkin's performance garnered him a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, but lost to Gérard Depardieu for his performance in Green Card.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)

Main article: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

Set one year after the events of the first film, Kevin McCallister loses track of his family at the airport to which he accidentally gets on a plane headed for New York City while the rest of the McCallisters fly to Florida. Now alone in one of the largest cities in the world, Kevin cons his way into a room at the Plaza Hotel and begins his usual antics, but when he discovers the burglars that he previously encountered are on the loose again, he stops them from robbing an elderly man's toy store before Christmas.

Home Alone 3 (1997)

Main article: Home Alone 3

Home Alone 3 does not center on Kevin or any of the original cast and characters, but instead on Alex Pruitt, a young boy who is left home alone with chickenpox, but soon recovers. At the same time, four international spies working for a North Korean terrorist group are sent by their boss to retrieve a top-secret microchip that can act as a cloaking device for a missile. They succeed in retrieving it and hide it in a remote controlled car, but due to a luggage mix-up at the airport with the Pruitts' neighbor Mrs. Hess, the car lands in the hands of Alex who is given the car for shoveling the snow in her driveway. The burglars begin systematically searching every house on his street. Once they realize that he has the chip, they prepare to invade his house. He devises elaborate traps and bamboozles the four crooks with the help of his pet rat, his brother's pet parrot and some intricate tripwires, all the while monitoring them with a video camera on the race car. The film was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Remake or Sequel, eventually losing the award to Speed 2: Cruise Control.

Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House (2002)

Main article: Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House

The fourth installment was directed by Rod Daniel and premiered as a television film on ABC on November 3, 2002. This film returns to the original's main character, Kevin (played by Mike Weinberg), and one of the two Wet/Sticky Bandits, Marv (played by French Stewart). Kevin's parents have separated, and he lives with his mother. He decides to go spend Christmas with his father and his rich girlfriend Natalie, but finds himself having to deal with his old nemesis Marv, his new wife/sidekick Vera (played by Missi Pyle), and an unlikely servant of Natalie working as their inside person. It was released to Region 1 DVD on October 20, 2003. Filming began on July 29 in Melbourne. Home Alone 4 is the first film in the series that was not theatrically released.

Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (2012)

Main article: Home Alone: The Holiday Heist

On March 15, 2012, ABC Family announced the development of the fifth installment in the Home Alone series. It premiered exclusively on ABC Family's Countdown to the 25 Days of Christmas on November 25, 2012. The film stars Christian Martyn, Jodelle Ferland, Malcolm McDowell, Debi Mazar, and Eddie Steeples. The story centers on the Baxter family's relocation from California to Maine, where Finn becomes convinced that his new house is haunted. When his parents become stranded across town, Finn sets traps to catch his new home's ghosts, but instead proves troublesome for a group of three thieves (McDowell, Mazar, and Steeples).

Home Sweet Home Alone (2021)

Main article: Home Sweet Home Alone

In August 2019, following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that a new film in the franchise, Home Sweet Home Alone, was in development, and would premiere on the company's streaming service, Disney+. By October of the same year, Dan Mazer had entered negotiations to direct the film, with a script co-written by Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell. Hutch Parker and Dan Wilson will serve as producers. The plot centered around a boy named Max, who faces off against a married couple after he steals something of theirs. Filming was reported to begin in the first quarter of 2020, with casting underway. In November, it was confirmed that the film would be shot in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, taking place from February to April. In December 2019, Archie Yates was cast as the lead, with Rob Delaney and Ellie Kemper set to play antagonists.

In March 2020, filming on all Disney projects, including Home Alone which had begun filming in Canada, were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and industry restrictions worldwide. In July 2020, Ally Maki, Kenan Thompson, Chris Parnell, Aisling Bea, Pete Holmes, Timothy Simons, and Mikey Day had joined the cast. By November 2020, filming on all the movies that had been postponed by the coronavirus had resumed filming, and in some cases completed principal photography.

The film stars Ellie Kemper, Rob Delaney, Archie Yates, Aisling Bea, Kenan Thompson, Tim Simons, Pete Holmes, Ally Maki, and Chris Parnell.

Short films

Home Alone Again with the Google Assistant (2018)

In an advertisement short film titled Home Alone Again with the Google Assistant for the Google Assistant published on December 19, 2018, Macaulay Culkin reprised his Home Alone role as Kevin McCallister. The ad recreates scenes from the original 1990 film, where Kevin shaves his face, jumps on his parents bed, and decorates a Christmas tree all while asking the Google Assistant to set reminders for him. The advertisement quickly went viral. Ralph Foody, Joe Pesci, and Daniel Stern also appear in their Home Alone roles via archival footage.

Cast and crew

Principal cast

Key

• A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film.
• A ^V indicates the actor or actress lent only their voice for their character.
• A ^Y indicates an actor or actress portrayed a younger version of their character.

Character	Films
	Home Alone	Home Alone 2: Lost in New York	Home Alone 3	Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House	Home Alone: The Holiday Heist	Home Sweet Home Alone
Kevin McCallister	Macaulay Culkin			Mike Weinberg
Harry Lyme	Joe Pesci
Marv Murchins	Daniel Stern			French Stewart
Kate McCallister	Catherine O'Hara			Clare Carey
Peter McCallister	John Heard			Jason Beghe
Buzz McCallister	Devin Ratray			Gideon Jacobs		Devin Ratray
Megan McCallister	Hillary Wolf			Chelsea Russo
Linnie McCallister	Angela Goethals	Maureen Elizabeth Shay
Jeff McCallister	Michael C. Maronna
Uncle Frank McCallister	Gerry Bamman
Aunt Leslie McCallister	Terrie Snell
Fuller McCallister	Kieran Culkin
Rod McCallister	Jedidiah Cohen
Tracy McCallister	Senta Moses
Sondra McCallister	Daiana Campeanu
Brooke McCallister	Anna Slotky
Old Man Marley	Roberts Blossom
Gus Polinski	John Candy
Heather McCallister	Kristin Minter
Mitch Murphy	Jeffrey Wiseman
Mr. Hector		Tim Curry
Pigeon Lady		Brenda Fricker
Cedric		Rob Schneider
E.F. Duncan		Eddie Bracken
Alex Pruitt			Alex D. Linz
Peter Beaupre			Olek Krupa
Earl Unger			David Thornton
Burton Jernigan			Lenny von Dohlen
Alice Ribbons			Rya Kihlstedt
Karen Pruitt			Haviland Morris
Mrs. Hess			Marian Seldes
Parrot			Darren T. Knauss
FBI Agent Stuckey			Christopher Curry
Stan Pruitt			Seth Smith
Molly Pruitt			Scarlett Johansson
Jack Pruitt			Kevin Kilner
Vera				Missi Pyle
Mr. Prescott				Erick Avari
Molly				Barbara Babcock
Natalie Kalban				Joanna Going
The Crown Prince				Craig Geldenhuys
Finn Baxter					Christian Martyn
Alexis Baxter					Jodelle Ferland
Sinclair					Malcolm McDowell
Jessica					Debi Mazar
Hughes					Eddie Steeples
Catherine Baxter					Ellie Harvie
Curtis Baxter					Doug Murray
Simon Hassler					Bill Turnball
Mr. Carson					Edward Asner
Mason					Peter DaCunha
Maxwell "Max" Mercer						Archie Yates
Jeff McKenzie						Rob Delaney
Pam McKenzie						Ellie Kemper
Carol Mercer						Aisling Bea
Hunter						Tim Simons
Mei						Ally Maki
Abby McKenzie						Katie Beth Hall
						Justine Archambault
Chris McKenzie						Max Ivutin
						Amadeo Correia
Ollie						Aiden and Allan Wang
Gavin Washington						Kenan Thompson
Uncle Stu Mercer						Chris Parnell
Uncle Blake Mercer						Pete Holmes
Mike Mercer						Andy Daly
Katie Mercer						Maddie Holliday
Movie characters
Johnny	Ralph Foody					John Novak
Snakes	Michael Guido					Eddie G
Carlotta		Clare Hoak

Additional crew and production details

Film	Crew/Detail
	Composer	Cinematographer	Editor(s)	Production companies	Distributing companies
Home Alone	John Williams	Julio Macat	Raja Gosnell	Hughes Entertainment	20th Century Fox
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Home Alone 3	Nick Glennie-Smith		Bruce Green & Malcolm Campbell
Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House	Teddy Castellucci	Peter Benison	John Coniglio & Michael A. Stevenson	Fox Television Studios 20th Century Fox Television	20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Home Alone: The Holiday Heist	David Kitay		John Coniglio	Original Pictures Fox Television Studios Manitoba Film and Video Production Tax Credit
Home Sweet Home Alone	John Debney	Mitchell Amundsen	David Rennie	20th Century Studios Hutch Parker Entertainment	Disney+

Reception

Box office performance

Film	Release date	Box office revenue			Box office ranking		Budget	Reference
		United States	International	Worldwide	All time domestic	All time worldwide
Home Alone	November 16, 1990	$285,761,243	$190,923,432	$476,684,675	#38 (#36(A))	#68	$18 million
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York	November 20, 1992	$173,585,516	$185,409,334	$358,994,850	#137 (#138(A))	#151	$28 million
Home Alone 3	December 12, 1997	$30,882,515	$48,200,000	$79,082,515	#1,807	N/A	$32 million
Total		$490,229,274	$424,532,766	$914,762,040			$70 million
List indicator(s) A grey cell with N/A indicates information is Not Available. (A) indicates the adjusted totals based on current ticket prices (calculated by Box Office Mojo).

Critical and public response

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore
Home Alone	66% (58 reviews)	63 (9 reviews)	A
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York	34% (56 reviews)	46 (22 reviews)	A-
Home Alone 3	29% (24 reviews)	N/A	B+
Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House	N/A (2 reviews)	N/A	N/A
Home Alone: The Holiday Heist	N/A (1 review)	N/A	N/A
Home Sweet Home Alone	18% (49 reviews)	39 (12 reviews)	N/A

Music

Soundtracks

• Home Alone: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York – Original Score
• Home Alone 3: Music from the Motion Picture
• Home Sweet Home Alone: Original Soundtrack

Other media

Novelizations

Home Alone (ISBN 0-590-55066-7) was novelized by Todd Strasser and published by Scholastic in 1990 to coincide with the film. On October 6, 2015, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the movie, an illustrated book (ISBN 1-594-74858-6) by Kim Smith and Quirk Books was released.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York was novelized by Todd Strasser and published by Scholastic in 1992 to coincide with the film. The "point" version, which have the same storyline, was also novelized by A.L. Singer. It has an ISBN of 0-590-45717-9. An audiobook version was also released read by Tim Curry (who played the concierge in the film).

A novelization based on the screenplay Home Alone 3 was written by Todd Strasser and published by Scholastic in 1997 to coincide with the film. ISBN 0-590-95712-0

Video games

Home Alone was released in 1991 on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Amiga, MS-DOS, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Game Boy. The purpose of the game is to escape the Wet Bandits while bringing all the McCallister's fortunes from the house down to the safe room in the basement. Once all items have been sent down the chute to the basement Kevin must make it past rats, bats, and ghosts he encounters in the basement, then fight the spider king so he can make it to the safe room to lock away all his families riches.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York was released on the Super NES, NES, and Game Boy in 1992, and the PC, Sega Genesis, and NES in 1993. Though it is based on the film in terms of plot and additional dialogue, the game was different from the film. The NES port uses sound effects from the early 1990s Simpsons games; Bart vs. the Space Mutants for example. The Super NES version, while boasting a soundtrack with the Super NES traditionally realistic sounding instrument synth, suffered due to slightly post-8-bit graphics and sound effects, as well as a disjointed feel of incontinuity between stages. The game got negative reception from Electronic Gaming Monthly.

Home Alone is an action game based on the first film and released in Europe only. The game was published by Blast! Entertainment Limited and released for the PlayStation 2 on December 1, 2006. The game features 10 levels, each taking place inside a house. The player chooses from one of four playable characters: Carl, Carly, Kelly or Kevin. The player's goal is to use objects to defeat burglars attempting to break into the house. The game includes a two-player option.

Other appearances

• Macaulay Culkin appears in three of the five episodes of the Jack Dishel online web series :DRYVRS, in which he portrays a fictional version of his Kevin McCallister character who is PTSD-riddled as a result of the events of Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and an unseen third encounter.
• In response to Culkin's appearance, Daniel Stern reprised his role as Marv in a short video titled Home Alone Wet Bandit Resurfaces and Responds to Kevin McCallister's Threatening Video published on December 24, 2015, in which he sends his old partner in crime, Harry Lime, a plea for help about McCallister hunting down other robbers, promising to return to help him defend himself against Kevin's traps.
• In the 2019 film Detective Pikachu, the lead character Tim Goodman (played by Justice Smith) enters his father's apartment and discovers the TV on with the movie Angels with Filthy Souls playing on it. Regarding its inclusion, director Rob Letterman stated, "Truth be told, we were just looking for the perfect placeholder...Mark Sanger, our editor, dropped it in, and it just fit perfectly."

Related films

Bushwhacked is a 1995 film starring Daniel Stern that was originally conceived as a spin off film to the Home Alone franchise.

Bone Alone is a film with the exact same plot, but starring a dog instead of a human.

In July 2018, it was announced that Ryan Reynolds was attached to produce Stoned Alone, an R-rated movie inspired by Home Alone. Augustine Frizzell will serve as director, with a script written by Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider based on the story concept by Fox Executive, Matt Reilly. The project will be a joint-venture production under Reynolds' Fox-based Maximum Effort Productions, while George Dewey serving as an executive producer. The premise of the proposed project was stated as 'reminiscent of the hallowed comedy classic'. The plot centers on a weed-growing 'loser' who misses his plane for a holiday skiing trip. He decides to get high, and as the paranoia side-effects set in, he believes he hears a break-in. As he discovers thieves have broken into his home, fully stoned and fueled by the weed, he tries to 'defend his castle'.

By August 2018, Frizzell stated that the script for Stoned Alone was being tweaked in order to enhance the emotional Christmas side of the story, with the goal being to have the film feel as much like the original Home Alone films as possible; noting that as a fan of the films as well as of Chris Columbus, it was important to get the story right. She stated that production will not begin, until everyone involved feels like they've reached that point.