Since I enjoyed the Renaissance last weekend, I think it’s about time to rewatch Home Alone.
Did you see the film’s star Macauley Culkin received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last week?
His Home Alone mother, Catherine O’Hara was there, too.
Awww!
Little Macauley is now 43 years old.
Yikes.
John Hughes was right.
Do you remember when Home Alone came out?
I can remember it VIVIDLY.
My older sister went to see it on a Friday night, and the next day, she recounted the WHOLE FILM to my dad and me over lunch.
She told us about how the neighbor kid turned up at the McCallister house early in the morning and threw off the count as the family was getting into vans for the airport…
How Kevin used a Michael Jordan cut-out attached to a toy train to make it look like he was having a party… and how he booby-trapped the house to protect it from robbers.
My sister was a bit older than the film’s target audience, but I remember how animated she was telling us the story — even repeating some of the film’s iconic lines.
When I ponied up my money to see it at the Strand Theatre, I felt I had already seen the film.
But even though I knew what was coming, Home Alone was a joy to watch — and it’s still a joy to watch with my own kids now.
(Seriously, how perfect was Macauley Culkin in this movie?!)
But where did the idea for Home Alone come from?
In the 1980s, writer/director John Hughes was the king of teen movies, with Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off among his credits.
He had also written family comedies, like Mr. Mom, The Great Outdoors, and Uncle Buck – and in 1989 found inspiration for another family film.
Hughes was busy getting ready to take a family vacation to Europe with his wife and young sons when he was struck with an idea.
He jotted down the question in his notebook, and set it aside.
After he returned from the trip two weeks later, he revisited the idea, and began writing.
Nine days later, he had a draft script for a movie he called Home Alone.
With many successful films under his belt already, Hughes was able to get the greenlight from Warner Bros, and hired Chris Columbus, a young writer/director (much like himself) to direct.
Warner Bros. approved a $10 million budget for the film, which was modest even for 1989.
As the filmmakers began pre-production, they soon realized they would need more money to make the film they envisioned.
So they went back to Warner Bros. and asked for an extra $4.7 million, which still put Home Alone in low-budget (and low-risk) territory.
The filmmakers weren’t trying to negotiate, and felt they needed $14.7 million to make the film.
So they went back to the studio with a detailed memo explaining how they’d come to their figure, hoping to convince Warner Bros.
But Warner Bros. refused to increase the budget.
Warner Bros. put Home Alone in turnaround, meaning they were not going to progress it, and would instead try to recoup their costs by selling it to another studio.
It sounds simple enough, but films can sit for years (or get lost forever) when they are put in turnaround.
John Hughes may have been a Midwesterner, but he knew how Hollywood worked.
Before Warner Bros. shut them down, Hughes had been speaking to Tom Jacobson, an executive at rival studio 20th Century Fox.
Hughes told Jacobson about the idea of Home Alone, and the fight he was having with Warner Bros. over budget.
Jacobson spoke to Joe Roth (then Head of Fox), and they both liked the idea of the film.
Hughes knew that if Warner Bros. wouldn’t make Home Alone, Fox would.
“Seemed like a no-brainer,” Roth said in a 2015 interview.
“[It] didn’t cost much. I didn’t have a Thanksgiving movie.
“I liked the idea. I loved the people involved.”
So when Warner Bros. shut Home Alone down on a Friday, the filmmakers reached out to Fox – who kept their word and purchased the script from Warner Bros.
Home Alone was now a 20th Century Fox picture – and when the crew turned up on Monday, they found “Fox” T-shirts waiting for them on set.
Over the next five months, the crew filmed Home Alone in and around the Chicago area.
Most of the film’s story took place in the McCallister family home.
A house in the Chicago suburb Winnetka was used for the exterior shots, while the crew turned a local school gym into a soundstage where they built a set of the house’s interior rooms.
They finished filming in May 1990, and Home Alone was released on November 16, 1990 – just before the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
The low budget movie was targeted to make $8 million – but it smashed those expectations and made $17 million on opening weekend.
The critics didn’t love it, but the audiences did – and they made Home Alone a smash.
For 12 weeks, Home Alone held the No.1 spot at the box office, and it remained in the top 10 until June 1991.
“The feeling of seeing the film at number one at the box office week after week was remarkable,” said director Chris Columbus.
“We just couldn’t believe it, and part of that is the fact we weren’t playing in 3,000 theaters, we were probably playing in 900, so the film was sold out a lot and you got to see a comedy with a packed audience – and there’s no better way to see a comedy.
“It’s a joyous experience, so for me, that was incredible.”
The film that had to fight for a $14.7 million dollar budget earned $285 million in the US, and nearly $500 million worldwide.
At the time, only two other films had done that well at the box office – Star Wars and E.T.
John Hughes passed away in 2009, but his story of an 8-year-old kid who was left home alone continues to delight audiences – more than 30 years later.
Said Columbus:
“At the time, the film got mixed reviews critically, but now it’s entered into its own thing. It’s kind of a worldwide phenomenon.
“It’s nice to have that be part of your legacy.”
When the original composer for Home Alone was no longer available, Columbus did what most directors would do.
He called Steven Spielberg.
Columbus had worked with Spielberg on The Goonies, and Spielberg knew a composer who might be able to help — John Williams.
Williams was arguably the most famous film composer alive, having composed the memorable scores for films like Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T.
Columbus probably did not expect Williams would agree to score a low-budget Christmas movie.
But Williams said yes.
And Columbus described hearing Williams’ Home Alone score for the first time as “one of the great moments of my life.”
“I thought, ‘This score is going to be in our film?’
“It was fantastic. It elevated everything.”
And he was right.
Williams was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score and Best Original Song for his work on Home Alone.
Check out this article written by John Hughes’s son James in 2015 for more behind-the-scenes takes.
Thank you for reading Curious Minds! If you need me, I’ll be at the store buying milk and fabric softener - and a toothbrush approved by the American Dental Association.
For the third year in a row, Santa and I have pulled together the best and worst communication moments of the year.
Here are my 10 people whose communication skills earned them a spot on Santa’s Nice List…
Stay tuned for the Naughty List!
I’m noticing a pattern in my recent articles…see if you spot it!
Don’t Be a Dick— There are plenty of things to be angry about. But why would anyone choose violence over someone’s email provider?!
That’s One Way to Get Attention— A singer reminds us why words (and self-awareness) matter.
Stop Being So Mean — Is it sexist? Is it ageist? This advertising approach is definitely lazy - and mean.
Poor communication costs you — money, relationships and your reputation.
And if you want to improve your communication (and get all the good things that come with that), I’m your gal.
So many companies could reap significant benefits – from performance and culture to retention and engagement – by improving their communication.
So, if you know someone who could benefit from some help (as even the most seasoned leaders do), please get in touch and check out my website for more information.
You can also see my Top 10 list of what I can (and can’t) do for you here.
And if you see any communication examples (the good, the bad, and the ugly) that you think are worth analyzing or sharing, please send them my way!
Until next time, Stay Curious!
-Beth
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