Macaulay Culkin Explains Why ‘Home Alone 2’ Tops the Original Movie

The Home Alone series has been making people laugh every Christmas season for more than 30 years. Created by John Hughes, the first two movies, Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), were directed by Chris Columbus.

The third film came in 1997 with director Raja Gosnell, followed by Home Alone 4 in 2002, directed by Rod Daniel. In 2012, Peter Hewitt made Home Alone: The Holiday Heist, and the latest entry, Home Sweet Home Alone, was released in 2021 under the direction of Dan Mazer.

The first three films hit theaters thanks to 20th Century Fox, and the franchise has become part of holiday pop culture, with kids and families rewatching them every year. It’s hard to find a person out there who hasn’t watched the movie(s).

Recently, Macaulay Culkin, who played Kevin McCallister in the first two movies, stopped by the YouTube show Hot Ones. While talking to host Sean Evans, he shared his very straightforward reason why he thinks the second film is better than the first. “I got paid more,” Culkin said with a laugh.

He went on to explain, “I think I own 5% of the net [profit] and I also own 15% of the merchandising. So, if you buy a Talkboy, yeah I’ll take 15% of that. By the way, buy a Talkboy this Christmas.”

When Home Alone 2: Lost in New York came out, critics weren’t exactly kind. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 35% based on 57 reviews, with an average score of 4.5 out of 10. Metacritic lists it at 46 out of 100 from 22 critics, calling it “mixed or average.” CinemaScore audiences gave it an A-, which is slightly lower than the A given to the first film.

In recent years, though, many people have warmed up to the sequel. In 2022, John Nugent from Empire magazine wrote an article called Why Home Alone 2: Lost In New York Is Better Than Home Alone.

He called it “a sequel that effectively also functions as a remake, a film that recognises the greatness of what came before and wisely hews as close to that winning formula as possible.” Nugent also said the final showdown in the renovated house made the traps “more ambitious, wild, and far more brutal” and praised stunt coordinator Freddie Hice for pulling it off without CGI.

That same year, Collider added that the movie’s charm comes from “taking everything they loved about the first film to a higher level” without holding back.

So, whether it’s for the bigger paycheck, the more over-the-top traps, or just nostalgia, Home Alone 2 still holds a special place in Christmas movie history, and in Macaulay Culkin’s wallet.

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