16/11/2025
Home Alone released . Nov 15, #1990 American Christmas comedy film directed by Chris Columbus, and written and produced by John Hughes. The first film in the Home Alone franchise, the film stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old boy who defends his Chicago home from a home invasion by a pair of robbers after his family accidentally leave him behind on their Christmas vacation to Paris. The cast also features Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, and Catherine O'Hara.
Hughes conceived Home Alone while on vacation, with Warner Bros. being originally intended to finance and distribute the film. Warner Bros. shut down the production after it exceeded its assigned budget, but it quickly resumed under 20th Century Fox following meetings with Hughes; Columbus and Culkin were hired soon afterwards. Filming took place between February and May 1990 on location across Illinois.
Home Alone grossed $476.7 million worldwide, becoming the second-highest-grossing film of 1990. It made Culkin a child star, and was the highest-grossing live-action comedy for two decades. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Home Alone has since been considered one of the best Christmas films. In 2023, Home Alone was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". A sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, was released in 1992.
Hughes suggested to Columbus that they cast Macaulay Culkin as Kevin, because of his experience while shooting Uncle Buck (1989). Columbus met with 200 other actors for the part, as he felt it was his "directorial responsibility". John Mulaney was asked to audition for the role of Kevin after being scouted in a children's sketch comedy group, but his parents refused the opportunity. Columbus finally met with Culkin and agreed he was the right choice.
After Robert De Niro and Jon Lovitz turned down the role of Harry, Joe Pesci accepted it. The role of Uncle Frank was written for Kelsey Grammer, but was given to Gerry Bamman when Grammer was unavailable
Daniel Stern was cast as Marv, but before shooting started, he was told that the production schedule had been extended from six weeks to eight. He dropped out after as he would not be paid more for the extended schedule. Daniel Roebuck was hired to replace him, but after two days of rehearsal, Columbus felt he was lacking chemistry with Pesci and brought back Stern. Roebuck later said that, although he was upset to be fired from the production, he now believed the experience was "a little blip of unimportance". Chris Farley auditioned for the role of the Santa Claus impersonator, but he failed to impress Columbus.
John Candy was available for only one day to film his scenes, which took 23 hours to shoot. He was paid only $414, since he did the film as a favor to Hughes. In return, he was the only actor Hughes allowed to go off-script; according to Columbus, all his dialogue was improvised.
