While Joe Pesci's last appearance in the Home Alone film franchise lies three decades in the past, the actor admits there's still a chance -- albeit a small one -- for a return.
Pesci, who famously played the bungling burglar Harry, one-half of a duo with Daniel Stern's Marv, was notably skeptical when asked by People about a prospective Home Alone homecoming. That's because he thinks it might be hard to replicate the "innocence" of the original family Christmas comedies. "While you never say never, I think that it would be difficult to replicate not only the success but also the overall innocence of the originals," he said. "It's a different time now; attitudes and priorities have changed in 30 years."
Released in 1990, the first film focused Culkin's Kevin, a young child who gets left alone in his family's sizable upper-middle class Chicago estate over Christmas. His situation alerts the attention of Harry (Pesci) and Marv (Stern), who both attempt to ransack and rob the empty home -- although it doesn't quite go to plan. Whilst McAllister shows no fear towards either criminal, the same can't be said about Pesci and Culkin off-camera. Pesci avoided his castmate at all times to play on the fear the youngster had towards him after starring in GoodFellas. Pesci even left Culkin with a permanent scar during the filming of a scene where Harry threatens to bite Kevin's fingers off.
Home Alone's History of Forgotten Sequels
While there was an attempt to conjure a proper Home Alone 3 during the production era of 1992's Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, lead actor Macaulay Culkin, who played the resourceful home-defending trap-setter Kevin McAllister, turned it down. Other projects tried to emulate the success of the originals but none have captured the same aura as the first two movies. Indeed, there have been several attempted additions to the franchise, starting with Home Alone 3 (1997), Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House (2002) and Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (2012). However, a modern reimagining hit Disney+ in 2021, titled Home Sweet Home Alone. That film broke post-sequel precedence by bringing back an original cast member, Devin Ratray, to reprise his role as Kevin's bullying older brother, Buzz McCallister, who is now a local beat cop.
Of course, the original Home Alone has become one of the most-watched Christmas films ever. Its $476.6 million worldwide box office gross held a record for the highest-grossing festive movie of all-time -- at least until it was surpassed in 2018 by the $512.8 million earned by the animated feature The Grinch.
Regardless, it remains a popular holiday standard even now, thirty years on, and its outreach and appeal has led to merchandise, spin-offs and even fan remakes and spoofs. Most recently, a fan created a hilarious YouTube video that saw Kevin McAllister take on the horrifying Lady Dimitrescu from Resident Evil Village thanks to a mashing-up of footage.
The Home Alone films are available to stream on the Disney+ platform.
Source: People