The most beloved Christmas movie, Home Alone, is celebrating its 35th anniversary in November. Director Chris Columbus spoke with Entertainment Tonight about the phenomenon of remakes and reboots, and gave his two cents on rebooting the 1990 classic.
“I think Home Alone really exists as, not at this timepiece, but it was this very special moment, and you can’t really recapture that,” said Columbus. “I think it’s a mistake to try to go back and recapture something we did 35 years ago. I think it should be left alone.”
Home Alone starred Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an 8-year-old boy accidentally left home alone after his family forgot him during their holiday plans, and left to protect his home from a pair of robbers.
The movie was a commercial success and is cemented as one of the greatest holiday movies of all time. It grossed over $476 million at the box office with a $18 million budget. Home Alone 2 was also a success, making $349 million in 1992.
There’s no denying that remakes and reboots are a hit or miss in Hollywood and amongst fans.
In 2021, Disney tried to reboot the 1990 movie with Home Sweet Home Alone, starring Jojo Rabbit actor Archie Yates. It followed the same storyline, but fell short in success compared to the original.
It only received a 15% Rotten Tomatoes score, with Variety reviewing, “Home Sweet Home Alone takes everything audiences loved about the Chris Columbus-directed, John Hughes-penned original and turns it around on them… Mean-spirited, downright sloppy and awkwardly unfunny, this rote feature reboot lacks holiday cheer.”
The distaste for remaking movies that thrived during their original release is a running argument.
A prime example is the 2024 movie The Crow, a reboot of the Brandon Lee classic from 1994. Some argued that what made the original movie so popular was its gothic aesthetic that perfectly melded into the timeframe of the 90s.
Columbus might be right in saying that cult classics from the past have certain elements that aren’t recapturable with a modern lense.
