Home Alone

Home Alone is a 1990 American comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. The film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, and Catherine O'Hara. The story follows eight year old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation. Kevin initially relishes being home alone, but he soon has to contend with two burglars: Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern).

Culkin was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy, and the film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Original Score, which was written by John Williams, and Best Original Song for "Somewhere in My Memory". After its release, Home Alone became the highest-grossing live-action comedy film of all time in the United States and held the record worldwide until it was overtaken by The Hangover Part II in 2011. For nearly three decades, the film was also the highest-grossing Christmas film of all time until it was surpassed by The Grinch in 2018. Despite the mixed critical reception upon its initial release, Home Alone has been hailed as a holiday classic among audiences and is often ranked as one of the best Christmas films of all time.

Home Alone spawned a successful film franchise with four sequels (two theatrical and two made-for-television), including the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, which is the only Home Alone sequel to have most of the original cast reprising their roles.