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Home Alone legend reveals why he thinks third film with Macaulay Culkin should never happen

"I think it should be left alone.”

Home Alone 2

20th Century Fox

Published: Friday, 15 August 2025 at 1:19 pm

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Home Alone fans might have been calling for Macaulay Culkin to reprise his role of Kevin McCallister in another sequel for years, but director Chris Columbus has spoken out against the idea.

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Sharing his thoughts on a franchise reboot, the director, who helmed the holiday classic and its sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, recently told ET: "I think Home Alone really exists as, not at this timepiece, but it was this very special moment, and you can’t really recapture that."

He continued: "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.”

After Culkin walked away from Home Alone after Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, the franchise continued with other lead actors in Home Alone 3 (1997), Home Alone 4 (2002), Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (2012) and Home Sweet Home Alone (2021).

Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister in Home Alone.

Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister in Home Alone. 20th Century Fox

In 2018, Ryan Reynolds was attached as a producer to Stoned Alone, which was billed as a sequel to the original film that was aimed at adults but ultimately became stuck in development hell.

In a statement at the time, the movie was said to follow “a 20-something weed-growing loser who misses the plane for his holiday ski trip”.

Columbus later told The Independent: "The reboots are just silly to me. When I read about something called Stoned Alone, they were going to do with Ryan - it was an R-rated Home Alone movie about stoners - I thought to myself, ‘This is just an insult to the art of cinema’."

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Authors

RadioTimes.com senior trends writer Molly Moss. She is sitting outside wearing a black top, holding a white teacup with a smily face on it to her mouth

Molly MossTrends Writer

Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.

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