61 'Home Alone' Facts: Behind The Scenes, Cast, And More

Movie theaters first screened the mega-hit 'Home Alone' on November 16, 1990.

The movie 'Home Alone' also taught us that kids are smart, resourceful, creative, and smarter than we realize. Children are often underestimated, aren't they? But it still isn't a great idea to leave children home alone.

The family discovered that the ominous-looking older man next door might be a lonely soul who knows how to use a snow shovel. 'Home Alone' proved that it is possible to successfully make a movie with just one child actor on screen for most of the running time. The actor, Macaulay Culkin, was 10 at the time of the movie. The first draft of the script was written in just nine days.

Facts About 'Home Alone'

It was difficult for both Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci to keep their mouths shut during this family film production. Read ahead for more facts.

• The family movie couldn't have much vulgarity, especially with a kid-like child star, Macaulay Culkin, on set. Because of this, Joe Pesci perfected his mumbling gibberish that sounds a lot like swearing but actually isn't.
• In one movie scene though, Daniel Stern made the mistake of saying a cuss word that rhymes with 'hit' by a slip of the tongue as mentioned in 'Who Killed Hollywood?', a book he wrote about the fall of the movie industry.
• As a result of Home Alone's unexpected success, the late, great, Oscar-winning screenwriter William Goldman coined the phrase 'to be home alone,' which meant that other films could not compete at the box office at all because of Home Alone's profitable run.
• Goldman recalls hearing from more than one executive that their picture did about 40 but would have easily done 50 had it not been for 'Home Alone.'
• The family film 'Home Alone' cost $18 million, which Warner Bros. refused to pay. Fox, on the other hand, saw a significant return on its investment.
• Globally, the movie grossed a mind-blowing $476.7 million. It was the third-highest-grossing film of the era.
• It was dethroned in 2011 by 'The Hangover' sequel, 'The Hangover II,' which ended up being the highest-grossing live-action comedy of all time.
• Even though 'Home Alone' was a huge hit and was loved by kids and adults alike, it didn't appear to have Oscar-winning potential. Despite this, it was nominated for two Academy Awards.
• John Williams' score and the original song 'Somewhere in My Memory' received a nod indeed.
• 'Home Alone' had to have sequels because it was a huge hit. Macaulay Culkin returned for 'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,' where Kevin is once again left by his parents, but this time in New York City.
• Macaulay Culkin was too old for 'Home Alone 3,' so a new child performer was cast in his place. Each of the subsequent 'Home Alone' movies has featured a new cast member.
• 'Home Sweet Home Alone,' starring Ellie Kemper and Rob Delaney as bumbling burglars, was released on Disney+ just recently.
• John Hughes got the idea for 'Home Alone' while filming 'Uncle Buck' with Macaulay Culkin.
• Culkin's character is always up for the precocious role and interviews with a prospective babysitter through a mail slot.
• In 'Home Alone,' Culkin confronts Daniel Stern through a doggie door, just like in the previous film.

Facts About The Cast

Discover facts about the cast of 'Home Alone.'

• Daniel Stern was cast as the more talkative and goofier robber, Marv, a role that suited his comedic skills better than Joe Pesci's. That, however, was almost not the case.
• As previously stated, Stern had already signed on, but then the schedule was extended for two weeks. That prompted the actor to walk away from the project.
• Daniel Roebuck, another actor, was cast in his place. But Chris Columbus didn't trust the chemistry between Roebuck and Joe Pesci and did whatever it took to get Stern back.
• Kieran, Macaulay Culkin's younger brother, played Kevin's dream bed-wetting cousin Fuller in 'Home Alone.'
• From his work in 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' and the 'Cider House Rules,' Kieran's acting career took off, albeit gradually, since his debut in the film.
• Jon Lovitz also made an appearance as Macaulay Culkin's brother. Afterward, Joe Pesci seized control of the role and made it his own.
• The character bears a passing resemblance to Orson Welles from 'In Carol Reed's The Third Man.'
• As a result, an young performer named Ken Hudson Campbell was cast in the small, but important, role of Santa Claus impersonator for the Christmas classic.
• 'Uncle Buck' is a movie starring Candy as the titular character. He agreed to play Gus Polinski, a polka musician, as a goodwill gesture for John Hughes.
• A bare-bones $414 was all Candy received for his one-day stint on set. Candy was allowed to deviate from the script as further compensation.
• It's been reported that Candy improvised the vast majority of his lines for the film.
• Having worked with Macaulay Culkin a bit on 'Uncle Buck,' John Hughes knew right away that he was the perfect choice to play Kevin McCallister.
• Chris Columbus, on the other hand, was meticulous by nature. Before meeting Culkin, he met with more than 200 child actors.
• He soon realized that since Macaulay Culkin was the perfect fit for the project, he could have saved himself a lot of time and effort by casting him earlier.
• The McCallister brothers had a fondness for having children. Peter and Uncle Frank, along with their wives, have a large brood of children. That necessitated a large number of child stars for making this real movie.
• As a result, Columbus was an obvious choice for the role of Kevin in 'Home Alone.' Keiran is portraying Kevin's cousin, Fuller.
• Kelsey Grammer was specifically written for uncle Frank's role. However, he was already in full swing with 'Cheers' at the time of this interview.
• Grammar may have been unable to play the role he was meant to play because of this. Instead, Uncle Frank became a defining role for performer Gerry Bamman.
• Even though John Mulaney is now a standup legend, he had to wait until he was an adult before becoming well-known.
• However, things would have gone a very different way. According to Mulaney, his parents refused to let him audition for the role of Kevin as a child.
• There's a good chance Columbus was on a Martin Scorsese binge. He approached Robert De Niro about playing Harry, one of the robbers, but De Niro declined. In the end, the role would go to Joe Pesci.
• In the end, the role of Harry would be played by Jon Lovitz, a completely different kind of actor.
• This was not the first time Joe Pesci had a memorable role in one of the most beloved Christmas films of all time.
• He also starred as Tommy in 'Goodfellas' during this period. For his performance in that film, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Behind The Scenes Facts About 'Home Alone'

Winnetka, a suburb of Chicago, was a favorite place for John Hughes. You can see a real-life house from the movie 'Home Alone' in this location (though some of the interior scenes were shot on a soundstage). It's not just Winnetka wet bandits where John Hughes filmed classic films such as 'The Breakfast Club,' 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' and 'Uncle Buck.'

• At 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois, a five-bedroom house was used for filming the kitchen, stairwell, and ground floor landing.
• First-floor rooms (except the kitchen) were all shot on a soundstage (except the dining room and other first-floor rooms).
• The home used in the film was owned by John and Cynthia Abendshien, who sold it for $1.585 million in 2012.
• 'Buzz's girlfriend' is a well-known catchphrase. Woof.' When he sees Buzz's picture of his ex-girlfriend, Kevin says this.
• Rather than subjecting an actual girl to this treatment, Columbus figured it would be more acceptable to dress a kid as a woman.
• The role was filled by Dan Webster's son, who is the father of the art director.
• The title 'Angels with Dirty Faces' is a play on the real 'Angels with Dirty Faces,' but the film isn't called that. As a result, the footage from that film had to be shot for this film.
• 'Angels with Filthy Souls' was shot one-day using authentic props from the era and black-and-white negative film.
• Even if the burglars are criminals, Kevin is quite a tyrant when dealing with them.
• Harry and Marv would have perished many times from the damage they dealt with. Onset, it appeared to be the same.
• Seeing Macaulay Culkin's stunt double perform their stunts was not amusing to Columbus, and they hoped the stunt people weren't badly injured.
• On the other hand, Stern performed his stunt by having a real tarantula placed on his face. After learning that spiders don't have ears, he was initially hesitant to perform the scream.

Facts About The Making Of 'Home Alone'

Get to know some interesting facts about the making of this timeless movie.

• 'Gremlins' was Chris Columbus' first big break in Hollywood. When Hughes started looking for a director for 'Home Alone,' he was already working on another Christmas project.
• During the time he was working on the holiday classic, 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.' Because he couldn't handle Chevy Chase, Columbus walked away from the project before it had even begun filming.
• Columbus was given a choice of scripts by Hughes, and he chose 'Home Alone.'
• John Hughes' films and screenplays of the '80s were popular and revered. 'The Breakfast Club,' 'Pretty in Pink,' and many other films benefited from his involvement.
• 'What could happen if I accidentally left my son at home while packing for my family trip?' is a question that inspired the movie's plot.
• This film was shot entirely around Chicago, even though it's set in Paris with the McCallisters and Kevin is back in his native Chicago home.
• O'Hare International Airport was used instead of Paris Orly Airport to film the scenes.
• Basketball courts at a local high school were the same place Kevin's 'flooded basement' scenes were shot (the 'basement' is actually the school's swimming pool).
• 'Home Alone' began production with Warner Bros. Hughes, on the other hand, was apprehensive about this.
• Hughes wasn't confident he could work within Warner Bros.'s strict budgetary guidelines.
• The script was then secretly sent to Fox, stating that they could have it if Warner Bros. couldn't get it.
• As a result of Warner's decision to halt production due to projected cost increases, the film was quickly re-shooted at Fox.

Did You Know?

• According to Forbes, 'Home Alone' had the highest single-country total for a live-action comedy until 2017, with $290 million.
• 'Home Alone' director Chris Columbus and his crew spent several weeks searching for the McCallister house.
• In Winnetka, Illinois, a house was selected as the final destination because it combined coziness and menacingly for the couple.
• Even though Hughes Entertainment and 20th Century Fox ultimately produced and distributed the film, Warner Bros. originally owned the rights to the project.
• Catherine O'Hara revealed to Andy Cohen in 2015 that she and Culkin had an interaction at the Martin Mull art opening during an appearance on 'Watch What Happens Live.'