Home Alone director Chris Columbus explained why he quit working on National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and how the move changed his career. The filmmaker was originally attached to helm the 1989 Christmas classic starring Chevy Chase, however, an unresolvable conflict broke out before the majority of shooting even began. “John Hughes had the same agent as me, and sent me the script for Christmas Vacation. I thought it was very funny,” Columbus told Empire Magazine, per Screen Rant. “I even shot some initial establishing second-unit shots for the movie — shots that are in the film now. And then I met with Chevy Chase. It’s no surprise — you’ve heard this story a million times — but he was a complete jerk.”
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Columbus also explained how his discord with Chase resulted in him taking on 1990’s Home Alone.
“Even though I was in a situation where I desperately needed a job, I decided that I had to bow out. Two weeks later, I got two scripts from John Hughes again. One was a script called ‘Reach The Rock,’ which I didn’t respond to. And the other was Home Alone.”
Jeremiah S. Chechik would eventually replace Columbus as the director of Christmas Vacation. The movie follows a chaotic Christmas with the Griswold family, comprised of Clark (Chase), Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo), Audrey (Juliette Lewis), Rusty (Johnny Galecki), Clark Sr. (John Randolph), Nora (Diane Ladd), as well as their extended family. The comedy is a favorite for many audiences during the holiday season thanks to its many laughs and heartwarming moments.
Home Alone centers around Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), whose family accidentally leaves him behind when they scramble to make their flight to Paris. On Christmas Eve, Kevin encounters a pair of burglars, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), and must take care of himself and his family’s home as he awaits their return.
Columbus returned to direct Home Alone 2: Lost in New York in 1992. Departing Christmas Vacation would have initially appeared to be a career-ruining decision for Columbus, but the director somehow managed to create another beloved Christmas movie. Like Christmas Vacation, Home Alone and its sequel exist among the most-watched holiday movies, providing equal doses of family-friendly humor and Christmas cheer. Columbus’s big gamble of quitting Christmas Vacation evidently paid off, as he went on to direct other major pictures such as Mrs. Doubtfire, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Rent.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is currently available to stream on Hulu and Max.
