Over the years, Home Alone has become a staple of the Christmas season. The movie had been an instant hit upon its release in November 1990, grossing almost half a billion dollars worldwide against a budget of about $18 million. It also turned Macaulay Culkin into an instant child star.
The movie has had significant cultural influence over the years, with scenes from the movie being referenced everywhere. As late as 2018, Macaulay Culkin himself even reprised the role of Kevin McCallister for a Google Spot ad. However, there is one influence that Home Alone has had that may be unexpected by some, and that is its impact on Hollywood’s language itself.
To understand what that means, one needs to go back to when Home Alone was initially released. The movie premiered in Chicago on November 10, 1990 and was released nationwide six days later. It instantly became the number one box office hit and stayed on top for twelve weeks, peaking at the start of January.
Although the initial hype subsided, the movie stayed in the top ten until the weekend of April 26, 1991. It even re-appeared in the top ten movies twice in June, almost six months after its initial Christmas season release. It was the highest-grossing live-action comedy movie in history until 2011, when The Hangover Part II surpassed it. By the time its run ended, Home Alone was the third-highest grossing movie at time, placing behind Star Wars and E.T.
A movie that stays in the top ten movie charts for six months is remarkable. A Christmas movie that stays in it for that long was unheard of at the time, which is where Hollywood’s language comes in. According to William Goldman, a screenwriter and novelist, the movie's success triggered a new verb in Hollywood: to be Home Aloned. This phrase was used by executives of the time who believed their movies suffered at the box office because of Home Alone's long lasting success.
"More than one executive said to me, 'My picture did 40,'" Goldman writes in his book The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood? and Other Essays, "'but it would have done 50 if it hadn’t been Home Aloned.'"
It is hard to imagine that the phrase is still used today, given that there have been other lasting successes like Titanic, which topped the box office for 15 weeks straight. There are also more modern examples like Avatar, which was in theaters for over eight months. However, the fact that the phrase was used at all is pretty remarkable, and it's a testament to the incredible and unexpectedly lasting success of Home Alone.