Home Alone 2: Lost in New Yorkis not as good as its predecessor, but it does have one thing that the 1990 comedy hit does not have;Donald Trump. In recent years, there has been a dispute over exactly how the former and future president wangled himself into a cameo appearance in the movie. Now directorChris Columbushas countered claims Trump made that the director “begged” for him to appear in the film.
While it may be shockingly uncommon for someone to deny a statement by the returning POTUS – actually, scratch that bit – Columbus has explained that despite what Trump claimed,his appearance in the moviewas certainly not something the director asked for, and would have been cut entirely if not for the reaction of preview audiences. In a recentVanity Fairinterview, Columbus doubled down on the reason Trump actually appeared in the Macaulay Culkin holiday sequel. He said:
“The only way we could get to shoot in the Plaza Hotel was that Trump had a cameo… So we gave him the cameo. I said to my crew, ‘We’re going to cut this. We can always cut it.’ We ended up previewing the movie. Trump was basically just a real estate celebrity in Manhattan. And he comes onscreen and the place applauds and cheers. So we kept it in. And it stayed in forever.”
However, when this story previously broke, Trump took to his own social media platform, Truth Social, todebunk the idea that he railroaded his way into the production. At the time, Columbus did not follow up on that, but has now revealed that his silence on the matter was purely due to the advice of his wife. He continued:
“Trump said that it was a lie, that he never asked for a cameo, that we begged him to be in the movie. . . . I was about to respond, and my wife said, ‘You know what? Stay out of it.’ It’s like, I’m not going to get in a fight over Home Alone. There are much bigger battles to be fought.”
‘Home Alone 2’ is a Classic Rinse and Repeat Sequel
WhileHome Alonehas been sitting atop the Disney+ global chart for much of the last couple of weeks,Home Alone 2has actually usurped it in the U.S., jumping above its predecessor and classic Disney movies such asThe Lion King, as well as new shows includingStar Wars: Skeleton CrewandMarvel’s What If…?However, while the film was almost as big a box office smash asHome Alone, turning a $28 million budget into over $350 million worldwide, it was not a hit with critics.
Audiences did not rate the film as highly as the first movie in the franchise thatwould go on to spawn more – terrible – sequels, giving it 62% on Rotten Tomatoes. For critics though, the film was a tired retread of what came before, told on a bigger canvas, with the same old gags. The Tomatometer forHome Alone 2peaked at 35%, suffering from having Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern’s Harry and Marv once again being battered constantly by even more violent traps than the first time around, while the beats remained pretty much identical to the template ofHome Alone.
‘Home Alone 2’ Star Reveals Sad Life After Movie Success
Brenda Fricker won an Oscar, appeared in a Christmas classic, but ended up broke and living alone.
Of course,Home Alone 2has found a place among the list of Christmas movies that audiences flock to watch every December. The success of the film – which is not down to the blink-and-you-miss-it appearance by Donald Trump, no matter what he claims to the contrary – has only been elevated by its inclusion on Disney+, allowing viewers to rewatch Kevin McCallister’s unexpected New York trip over and over again at the touch of a button. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
