A Macaulay Culkin Classic Is At The Top Of The Streaming Charts
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One of the best Christmas movies of all time, potentially second best just after Die Hard, Home Alone, is dominating the Disney+ streaming chart. Reporting from MovieWeb confirms that the Macauly Culkin classic is currently the number one movie on the service. While the film first hit theaters over 30 years ago, the tale of one boy taking out home invaders with just his wits, ingenuity, and a tarantula, has stood the test of time.
Home Alone was the breakthrough role for Macaulay Culkin, though he was only 10 at the time of its release, the actor had been in other films before, including Uncle Buck with John Candy. Also starring in Home Alone are Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as the Wet Bandits, with Catherine O’Hara as Kevin’s mother. The family-friendly film was the second biggest hit of 1990, coming in only behind the Patrick Swayze hit Ghost.
The cultural juggernaut of Home Alone was such that it was impossible to get away from film references during the first year after its release. The famous scene in which Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McAllistar tries his brother’s aftershave is still frequently parodied, over 30 years from when it appeared in theaters. The success of the first film led to the quick turnaround of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, notable for being the last time in the franchise that most of the original cast would reunite on screen.
A second outing was not as successful as the first, though when trying to follow up the box office leader for a live action comedy, until 2011’s Hangover Part 2, would be a tough task for any film. Home Alone was also nominated at the Golden Globes for the Best Motion Picture of the Year, and Best Actor of the Year for Macauly Culkin. Culkin remains one of the youngest nominees in the category.
The role of Kevin McAllister was recast in 2002 by Mike Weinberg for the film Home Alone 4: Taking Back The House, a made-for-television film that aired on ABC. Every other recurring part was also recast, with Third Rock from the Sun’s French Stewart filling in as Marv, while Missi Pyle played his wife as the new Wet Bandits. Critics, and the wider audience, all agreed that the tv movie lacked the charm of the original.
Disney+ is also home to the original streaming film, Home Sweet Home Alone, which debuted in 2021. Starring Archie Yates as the latest child left behind, Rob Delany and Elle Kemper, from the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, were the latest husband/wife pairing to be thwarted by non-lethal booby traps. The recent David Harbour film, Violent Night, took the concept of a young child setting lethal booby traps and created an immediate fan-favorite sequence as a result.
A John Hughes classic, Home Alone is in the pantheon of best Christmas movies alongside other classics, including Die Hard, Scrooged, It’s a Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Story. That distinction is why, even with the vast amount of viewing options available on Disney+, the 32-year old film is number one, beating out the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, the recent Disenchanted, and every single episode of The Simpsons.
