Caffeinated Clint
It might as well pour acid rain, the ground can start to open up and you dragons, well you might as well come eat my TV dinner.
Hot on the heels of a new commercial in which Macaulay Culkin, 38, reprises his Kevin McCallister from “Home Alone” (1990), news that won’t surprise anyone – Disney, now that they’ve merged with Fox, want to bring back “Home Alone”.
The plan, according to Splash Report, is to go the “Jumanji” route and have the new film be somewhat of a continuation/sequel… but not necessarily feature the same characters. Which is why, of course, the studio are reportedly circling Will Ferrell and Melissa McCarthy as its stars.
Like a passenger on the Titanic, a sinking feeling just crept in, right? I tell you why that is, as good as Ferrell and (occasionally) McCarthy can be, “Home Alone” is known for it’s sweet, heartwarming and smile-spurring antics… not something Ferrell and McCarthy’s back catalogue features a lot of.
Sure, Ferrell did “Elf” a million years ago, and it encompassed similar themes and a tone of a similar ilk, and McCarthy’s not always in crude garbage, but this seem a fit for their particular blend of shtick. We need less crazy, less cutesy.
Furthermore, since when did “Home Alone” need to have big-name stars? (a John Candy cameo was the big ticket in the original, I guess?) – It’s cute tale did the talking for it.
So, what would be better? having Macaulay Culkin come back as Kevin, cast a couple of kids as his offspring, have Catherine O’Hara play ‘grandma’, and introduce us to Buzz’s girlfriend, finally. Heck, it doesn’t even need to be Kevin’s kids that have to defend themselves against burglars… it could be, say, Buzz’s kids – who uncle Kevin then has to help out, remotely. That’s what you need to be looking at Disney. Something that matches the tone and set-up of the original.
I’m assuming that Ferrell and McCarthy would play the new bumbling crooks of the neighbourhood. But I could be totally off and they’re Buzz and Buzz’s girlfriend.
According to the aforesaid site, “SNL” star Mikey Day and writing partner Streeter Seidell are on scripting duties for the new film. John Hughes wrote the original. Can’t tell if we’re off to a good start here or not?
Anyway, off to hang another ornament on a cat… I mean, a tree. A Christmas tree.
