Home Alone, is turning 30 next year, and Disney+ is celebrating the event by making an all-new version of Chris Columbus’s 1990 Christmastime favorite, which made Macaulay Culkin a pop-culture icon. Variety recently reported that the Walt Disney Company — the new owner of 20th Century Fox, which produced the original film — has assembled a cast for the reboot, directed by Dan Mazer and written by Saturday Night Live collaborators, Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell. The film will reportedly begin production in early 2020 and likely arrive on the streaming service in time for the holidays. Jojo Rabbit breakout star Archie Yates will take Culkin’s place as the kid that’s left home alone, although it’s worth noting that this kid is not Kevin McAllister. Yates will be joined by Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s Ellie Kemper and Catastrophe’s Rob Delaney in yet-to-be specified roles. According to Variety, the duo won’t be playing Yates’s parents, which means there’s an outside chance that they could be the new Wet Bandits.
There’s still plenty of love for Home Alone, as evidenced by last year’s hit Google Assistant commercial that featured a grown-up Culkin reprising his role. But there’s not a lot of love on Twitter for this reboot news, with lots of fans expressing skepticism about Disney dusting off the three-decade old comedy.
Nothing against these actors and the crew behind this film but nobody asked for a Home Alone reboot!! Instead of attempting to remake already great films, people should be creating and telling new stories! At this rate, there will be no unique films to watch anymore https://t.co/vVkVmfZQ8G
— + Skinny Steve + (@wolverineyay) December 11, 2019
Guys, we already got a Home Alone reboot. Actually we got 8 of them. It was called Saw. https://t.co/SPYncvZMrJ
— Will Mavity (@mavericksmovies) December 11, 2019
I refuse to watch any reboot of Home Alone. It’s a Classic that should not be remade in any way shape or form. No way. https://t.co/B8pV5d9ax4
— TracyFromJax ??????????????? ???? ???? (@tracyfromjax) December 11, 2019
Nothing against these actors and the crew behind this film but nobody asked for a Home Alone reboot!! Instead of attempting to remake already great films, people should be creating and telling new stories! At this rate, there will be no unique films to watch anymore https://t.co/vVkVmfZQ8G
— + Skinny Steve + (@wolverineyay) December 11, 2019
So the #HomeAlone reboot...……………....yea....most pointless remake to date?
— Adam (@IamChadbacca) December 11, 2019
On the other hand, several people have spoken up in favor of a new Home Alone if only because it’ll give the world that Kimmy Schmidt/Catastrophe crossover we deserve.
I think the cast for Disney's Home Alone reboot looks good, but I also think Home Alone is a timeless classic and that this will leave a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths as they will view it as trying to cash in on nostalgia. #HomeAlone #filmtwitter
— Anothermillennialreviewer (@AnothermillennR) December 11, 2019
This kid was my fav part of JoJo Rabbit https://t.co/NKUgVGrWdv
— khal abar (@khal) December 11, 2019
Whatever you may think of reboots, Archie Yates is an absolute star. If you have to cast someone, these guys are them. #HomeAlone https://t.co/dlgc5xwYee
— Wenlei Ma (@WenleiMa) December 11, 2019
Not for nothing, but recent attempts to relaunch once-popular franchises — such as Terminator: Dark Fate and Charlie’s Angels — were met with audience indifference. Meanwhile, the strong box-office returns for recent movies like Knives Out, Ford v Ferrari and Hustlers suggests that moviegoers are hungry for original material. Maybe instead of Home Alone, they can call this new film Living Solo?