Home Alone became an instant classic when it was released in 1990, but the beloved Christmas comedy almost never got off the starting blocks.
The family-friendly film that tells the story of a young boy who is accidentally left alone by his family in their suburban home during the holidays was the brainchild of the late John Hughes, whose teen-oriented films established a new genre of storytelling . the eighties.
Hughes wrote the script to see if he could make for children the kind of film he had successfully made for slightly older audiences.
Hughes took his script to Warner Bros., who told him he could get it for $10 million, expecting to get a moderately successful film at best.
When the film, which was in pre-production at the time, told the studio it would cost at least $14.7 million to make the film, Warner Bros. stopped making the film.
The cast and crew were told the same morning that filming was halted, that their jobs were over and that 20th Century Fox had picked up the film and things were actually going according to plan.
The 1990 film became an instant holiday classic, despite almost being canned before production even began
Some people involved in the production recall that the crew came to work the day after the double announcement and found 20th Century Fox T-shirts on every seat.
Producers and others involved in the production said in a Netflix documentary about the making of the film that the script was “clandestinely” delivered to Fox executives, who were legally not allowed to see any of the film.
The documentary “The Movies That Made Us: Home Alone” featured insights from then-very-green director Chris Columbus, who described the fledgling team of filmmakers saddled with getting the job done.
Home Alone was shot in and around the Chicago suburbs, where Hughes liked to make many of his films outside the Hollywood studio system.
The team established home base at New Trier High School in Winnetka, where a set was eventually built that became the iconic interior of McCallister's idyllic home.
They also worked around the clock to find what would become the iconic brick house that would come to represent a specific kind of upper-middle-class American life for the next decade.
According to the director, the house had to be 'warm and inviting' to effectively create the right holiday atmosphere for the film.
“I'm just obsessed with Christmas,” Columbus said in the documentary.
The casting of the film also had to be done somewhat carefully. Not only was a nine-year-old chosen to lead a feature film, but the adult casting also required a light touch to ensure that the family leaving their son home alone didn't seem terrible.
The film, which gave almost everyone involved a successful career, was released by Warner Bros. canceled when it went over budget. It was then picked up by 20th Century Fox, who were willing to give the production the modest budget it needed
The family-friendly film that tells the story of a young boy who is accidentally left alone by his family in their suburban home during the holidays, and his attempt to thwart neighborhood burglars
The large suburban Chicago house where the McCallisters lived was carefully chosen and has become an iconic image of upper-middle-class American life
Macaulay Culkin's Kevin McCallister uses his family's home as a weapon against the ne'er-do-wells in the neighborhood, the Wet Bandits
At the time of filming, director Chris Columbus was a very green director who really hoped to tell a warm, funny family story
John Hughes, the iconic filmmaker who established the teen comedy genre in the 1980s, wrote Home Alone and went through the tricky production process
Macaulay Culkin was selected for his role, which would easily become his most famous role, following his performance in the 1989 family comedy 'Uncle Buck', in which he co-starred with John Candy.
A celebrated comedic actor and improviser, Candy also appeared briefly in the film as “the Pola King of the Midwest,” a role for which he improvised every line.
Although Candy had considerable star power at the time, he was paid extensively (only a few hundred dollars) for his screen time, which only lasted about a day.
Casting the role of Marv – one of two Wet Bandits, the burglars against whom Macaulay's Kevin McCallister must defend his home – was also an extensive process.
Daniel Stern was originally cast in the Warner Bros. backed version of the film, but when the shoot turned out to be twice as long as he was initially told and the studio would not increase his salary, he walked away from the film. the part.
Comic actor Dan Roebuck was next cast, but as principal filming began it became clear to everyone involved that the new Marv and Joe Pesci – who had been cast as Harry Lime, the other Wet Bandit – were not a good match.
It was then that director Chris Columbus realized they had to call on Stern to come back and do the shoot.
He did so and while being interviewed for the documentary, he said it would have been an incredible mistake to reject the documentary a second time, adding that people get his face tattooed on their arms because of his Home Alone character .
Daniel Stern (left), who played Marv in the film, almost turned down the role twice after Warner Bros. didn't want to increase his salary for a longer shoot
Stern was initially replaced by Dan Roebuck (pictured), but once on set it was clear that Joe Pesci, who plays the film's other villain, was not a chemistry match with Roebuck. A second appeal was made to Stern
Macaulay Culkin was selected for his role, which would easily become his most famous role, following his performance in the 1989 family comedy 'Uncle Buck', in which he co-starred with John Candy.
The film was released just before Thanksgiving in 1990 and competed against Rocky V at the box office. It did not receive positive reviews from George Siskel and Roger Ebert, the leading film critics of the time.
According to the studio's calculations, if the film had earned $8 million in its opening weekend, it would have been a success.
The film made $17 million in its first weekend run and then remained the number one film at the box office for twelve weeks – all the way through the holidays.
Its domestic box office gross rose to $285 million, a number seen by only two other films in history at the time: ET and Star Wars. It launched a successful franchise and the subsequent careers of the rookie team involved in its creation.