What are the odds this actually gets made? “Home Alone” star Macaulay Culkin has an idea for a legacy sequel to the franchise, and it’s the most underwhelming pitch you can imagine.
Appearing at a recent live event, Culkin confirmed he was open to returning to his Kevin McCallister role in a new “Home Alone” film, saying (via Variety) that “[I] wouldn’t be completely allergic… It would have to be just right.”
In fact, he seems to have thought it out, quite a bit, with a potential pitch for the film – one in which Kevin is now a single father raising his young son, caught between the demands of work and the growing emotional gap at home. As the pressures mount, he begins to recognize that his life has flipped the script of his own childhood—he has become the overwhelmed adult he once rebelled against.
I kind of had this idea. I’m either a widower or a divorcee. I’m raising a kid and all that stuff. I’m working really hard, and I’m not really paying enough attention, and the kid is kind of getting miffed at me, and then I get locked out. [Kevin’s son] won’t let me in… and he’s the one setting traps for me. The house is some sort of metaphor for our relationship. [Kevin has to] get back into [his] son’s heart.
Gosh, where to begin? First off, you can’t make a sequel with Culkin without the Wet Bandits involved, and that means convincing hermit Joe Pesci, and his co-star Daniel Stern, to return to their iconic roles. Furthermore, what Culkin seems to be pitching here is not an action comedy like the first two films, but rather a contemplative piece on fatherhood. Yeah, this ain’t happening.
It doesn’t help that Chris Columbus, director of the first two instalments, previously indicated zero desire to resurrect the franchise, saying: “You can’t really recapture that.”
Culkin returned for “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” but skipped the subsequent sequels, and much to my surprise, there were four of them: “Home Alone 3,” “Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House,” “Home Alone: The Holiday Heist,” and “Home Sweet Home Alone.” Those last three went straight to TV or streaming.
Culkin is now 45. He became an immense child star at 10 years old, and in the wake of the “Home Alone” success, went on to make other films, none of which truly captured the magic quite like Columbus’ films, including “The Good Son,” “My Girl,” and “Richie Rich.” He retired from acting soon after that, but has taken occasional roles here and there.
Anthony and Joe Russo are directing, and the secrecy surrounding Jupe’s character naturally leaves plenty of room for rumors about whether he could be connected to an established Marvel character,