It would be hard to explain the phenomenal success of Home Alone to anyone who wasn't there or who didn't pay attention to box office statistics in 1990. The movie, written and produced by John Hughes, was massive in a way that few are. No one expected all that much from it. The studio, 20th Century Fox, didn't give it an especially wide opening on November 16 of that year, putting it in just 1,200 theaters. The movie surprised everyone, beating out Rocky V to grab the #1 spot, with a debut of $17 million. It continued to hold strong, so they added more theaters every weekend until it reached 2,100 right before Christmas.
When all was said and done, Home Alone topped the box office for a whopping twelve weeks. That's right, it was still the #1 movie in North America the first weekend of February. Even more amazingly, it played for six straight months, finally exiting cinemas at the end of June. The total domestic gross was $285 million, which would equal more than $600 million in today's dollars. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and Home Alone 3 hit theaters in the next few years, while the original took its place alongside It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, and Miracle on 34th St. as required annual viewing in many homes. Making the Home Alone movies wasn't always easy. It came with some trials and tribulations, but also some happy accidents and some bits of movie magic.
Updated on March 21st, 2021 by George Chrysostomou: The Home Alone series has become an iconic piece of film cinema and recently inspired another sequel. But there are so many behind-the-scenes secrets that still need to be uncovered and fans of the franchise will certainly be intrigued by these in-depth production details.
Hundreds of kids auditioned to play Kevin
John Hughes cast young Macaulay Culkin in his 1989 comedy Uncle Buck, where he proved to be a real scene-stealer. He wrote the part of Kevin McCallister with the actor in mind. During pre-production on Home Alone, Hughes touted Culkin's skills to director Chris Columbus, saying he'd be the perfect Kevin.
Columbus, however, felt the need to conduct a traditional audition process. He saw hundreds of children, in person or through audition tapes. After seeing them all, he came to the conclusion that Culkin was indeed the right choice to star in the movie despite some unpopular opinions, just as his collaborator had claimed.
Kevin's famous scream was improvised
The image of Macaulay Culkin screaming with his hands on his cheeks is probably the most iconic image in Home Alone. It ended up being featured on the poster and marketing materials. That scream was never intended to be as prominent as it became.
Director Chris Columbus told Entertainment Weekly that Culkin was merely supposed to slap on some cologne and scream. Instead, he kept his hands on his face the whole time he screamed, making him resemble the famous Edvard Munch painting "The Scream." Culkin's idea was perfect, so it stayed in the film.
Home Alone 3 starred a future Avenger
It's always fun to look at an old movie and discover the early work of someone who became a mega-star. While utterly forgettable by most traditional measures, Home Alone 3 is notable for giving early screen time to a future Avenger.
There are no McCallisters in this one. Instead, it focuses on a different little boy, Alex Pruitt, who accidentally ends up in possession of a computer chip and is pursued by the criminals who want it back. Playing Alex's older sister Molly is none other than Black Widow herself, Scarlett Johansson. It was one of her earliest roles.
The tarantula was poisonous
These days, if there was a scene in a movie where a tarantula crawled across someone's face, it could easily be accomplished through CGI to make it safer and for continuity purposes. The technology wasn't quite there in 1990, so for the scene in which Marv endures this exact scenario, a real tarantula had to be put on Daniel Stern's face.
One Home Alone behind the scenes secret is that Stern asked the wrangler if its stinger had been removed and was told no because that would have destroyed it. This meant he not only had a tarantula on his face but, according to THR, he also had one that was poisonous and could have fatally wounded him. No wonder that shriek of fear sounds so convincing.
Kevin's hotel bill in Home Alone 2 would have been massive
In Home Alone 2, Kevin spends a couple of nights in a luxury Manhattan hotel, where he orders a ton of food from room service. Among the treats he requests are cakes, several types of ice cream, a pastry cart, and strawberry tarts. Of course, in a 4-star hotel, room service isn't cheap. How much would his stay have cost?
A room at the Plaza would have set him back more than $1,000 a night in 1992. Add to that the cost of all that food, the car ride from the airport to the hotel, and renting a movie on pay-per-view, and the grand total would have been in the neighborhood of $2,200, according to CinemaBlend.
Kevin's Mom thought she was too mean
Catherine O'Hara first rose to fame on the Canadian sketch comedy series SCTV. From there, she transitioned to movie work, with one of her most notable roles being Kate McCallister, Kevin's mom.
Despite enjoying working on the movie, the actress had a problem with the line in which her character tells Kevin that he'll be sorry if he wakes up and his family is gone. According to The Star, she felt it was too mean for a mother to say to a child. After arguments with the movie's director, she agreed to recite the dialogue, despite her objections. O'Hara later realized how crucial it is to the story.
Joe Pesci bit Macaulay Culkin for real
Joe Pesci plays the hilariously angry Harry Lime, a character named after the villain in the 1949 Orson Welles drama The Third Man. Much of the humor in the first two Home Alone movies comes from the comical way Harry is continually exasperated by Kevin. Macaulay Culkin has repeatedly said over the years that his co-star tried to mimic their antagonistic relationship off-screen.
The Home Alone behind the scenes reveals that led to an injury in one case. During the rehearsals for a scene where Harry hangs Kevin on a coat hook and threatens to bite his fingers off, Pesci bit Culkin for real, breaking the skin and leaving a permanent scar.
Home Alone has a weird connection to Friends
What do Home Alone and Friends have in common? Fans might be surprised. During the final season of the hit sitcom, Monica and Chandler buy a house in the suburbs. Some eagle-eyed viewers picked up on the view from the windows of that house. The homes across the street are the exact same ones across from the McCallisters' house in Home Alone.
According to Mental Floss, the Friends set designers used some stock footage from the movie to create the background. In other words, Monica and Chandler appear to have bought the McCallisters' place!
Macaulay Culkin earned a record payday for the sequel
When Home Alone came out, the incredibly likable Macaulay Culkin was not a star. He was simply "that kid from Uncle Buck." His salary for the movie was $100,000. That's a lot of money for a kid, but it's a small change in Hollywood.
Once Home Alone became a massive blockbuster, he was suddenly a household name. The studio, of course, wanted a sequel, which they couldn't really make without him. This put the young actor in a powerful position. According to Cheat Sheet, his management was able to command -- and receive -- a $4.5 million payday for Culkin. That was a record-breaking amount for a child performer.
How they lit Joe Pesci's head on fire
One of Kevin's more tricky traps involves rigging a door so that Harry will have his head lit on fire when he walks through it. The bit looks realistic, but clearly, they couldn't burn actor Joe Pesci. According to AV Club, an old magician's trick was used to accomplish the visual.
The fire was actually blown onto a dummy head that was painted black. The camera was pointed at a piece of glass placed at a 45-degree angle. When Joe Pesci hit a very specific mark on the set, he blocked out the reflection of the dummy head, leaving the flame visible -- and appearing to singe his scalp.
