New 'Home Alone' Reboot Details: What We Know About The New Mischievous Main Character
Disney is on the verge of really digging into the 20th Century Fox library of intellectual property with reboots of some of the studio's more successful family-friendly franchises. One of the first out of the gate will be Home Alone, the hit holiday comedy from director Chris Columbus that follows a kid (Macaulay Culkin) who is accidentally left home by himself when his whole family leaves on a trip to Paris. That also leaves him as the only thing standing in the way of a couple burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) from breaking into the house.
As for the Home Alone reboot, Disney is taking a slightly different direction by having a husband and wife go to war with a young boy named Max after he steals something from them. And now we have some new details about the young new main character who will try to fill the shoes of Macaulay Culkin.
The Observer has learned, seemingly from a casting call for the young main character, that the Home Alone reboot will focus on Max, an energetic, witty nine-year-old boy with a mischievous side. The kid is said to seem "wise beyond his years and has the personality to easily converse with adults." But he also has the "uncanny ability to relentlessly push their buttons." Not unlike Kevin McCallister from the original Home Alone, he still has "a sense of innocence and a kind heart."
After reading all those details, I only have one problem. Why does this kid steal from a grown up couple? Does he do it just to be a dickhead? Or is there just some kind of misunderstanding? We have to be able to actually care and root for this kid, so if he flat out steals from adults, then who will the audience be sympathetic towards him? Does he maybe come from a less wealthy family and sees this as a way to get Christmas presents for his relatives? That might be one way to make us like the little guy.
The real battle will be making the kid entertaining to watch while still recognizing that he's a bit of a hellion. Plus, we're anxious to see who they get to play the couple tangling with him. Supposedly the studio wants a big name for the female lead, and they were said to be previously looking at Melissa McCarthy. But we'll have to wait and see how that pans out.
The script for the Home Alone reboot is coming Saturday Night Live scribes Mikey Day and Streeter Seidel, so that's promising. And directing will be Dan Mazer (Borat, Who Is America?) with Hutch Parker (Logan) and Dan Wilson (Patriots Day) producing. Disney/Fox hope to start production in February of next year, which might mean we'll see it hit Disney+ in time for Christmas next year. Stay tuned for more soon.