‘Home Alone’ Director Slams Later Sequels: ‘They Really Ruined It’

Chris Columbus has shared strong opinions about the Home Alone movies that came after the original films. The director, who made the first two entries in the series, says the franchise lost its way once new sequels kept being made.

Columbus spoke with Macaulay Culkin during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter to mark 35 years since the release of the first Home Alone movie in 1990. While looking back on the film’s impact, Columbus made it clear he is unhappy with how the series continued without the original team.

“Sorry to insult anybody, but they’ve completely f**** it up,” Columbus said. “It started with Home Alone 3, and then it just went downhill from there.” He added that while he wasn’t involved in later films, “Home Alone 3 is sort of the best of the bunch of the bad movies.”

After Columbus stepped away, the franchise kept going with several follow-ups released over the years, including movies in 1997, 2002, 2012, and most recently in 2021. None of them featured Culkin or the original cast.

Columbus has made similar comments before. Earlier this year, he told Entertainment Tonight that trying to bring the movie back again was a mistake. “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,” he said.

Culkin, who played Kevin McCallister in the first two films, had a different view. He said he could imagine a version where Kevin is now an adult and a parent himself. “I like the idea that maybe Kevin’s older,” Culkin explained, sharing a rough idea of a new story that flips the roles and focuses on family problems.

Even so, Columbus remains doubtful. He said he has heard many ideas over the years but believes the movie only worked because of the original cast. He said it would be hard to recreate that magic today. “A lot of it is really based on cast,” he said. “I don’t think you can duplicate that.” He also questioned whether actors Joe Pesci and Dan Stern would ever return.

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