Home Alone again? When it comes to making another sequel to the original 1990 holiday hit, Joe Pesci says it’s better to leave well enough alone. The Oscar-winning Goodfellas actor played Harry, one half of the bumbling burglar duo with Daniel Stern’s Marv, in the blockbuster that starred Macaulay Culkin as accidentally left-behind eight-year-old Kevin McCallister. Pesci reprised his role in 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, but did not return for the four films that followed. (2002’s made-for-TV sequel Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House recast the original characters, replacing Culkin with Mike Weinberg and Stern with French Stewart.)
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Asked if he would ever consider returning as hot-headed Harry in a true Home Alone 3, Pesci told PEOPLE he believes it would be “difficult to replicate” the innocence and success of the original films from the 1990s.
“While you never say never, I think that it would be difficult to replicate not only the success but also the overall innocence of the originals,” Pesci said in a new interview celebrating the 30th anniversary of Home Alone 2. “It’s a different time now; attitudes and priorities have changed in 30 years.”
Speaking of hot-headed: Pesci revealed he suffered burns to his head when Harry and Marv’s nemesis, Kevin, sprung a trap that set Harry’s head aflame with the pull of a lightbulb spring in the Home Alone sequel.
“In addition to the expected bumps, bruises, and general pains that you would associate with that particular type of physical humor, I did sustain serious burns to the top of my head during the scene where Harry’s hat is set on fire,” Pesci said, noting he performed the stunt himself. “I was fortunate enough to have professional stuntmen do the real heavy stunts.”
Only creator John Hughes, who wrote the Chris Columbus-directed Home Alone and Home Alone 2, returned for 1997’s Home Alone 3, about a new kid (Alex D. Linz) who must defend his home from criminals. Two made-for-TV films, the recast Home Alone 4 and the spin-off Home Alone: The Holiday Heist, followed in 2002 and 2012.
In 2021, Disney+ and 20th Century Studios’ straight-to-streaming Home Sweet Home Alone was revealed to be set in the same continuity as the original film with an update on Kevin and a cameo by Officer Buzz McCallister (Devin Ratray, reprising his original role from the first two films).
All six Home Alone movies are now available to stream on Disney+. Reference our viewer’s guide to the “Happy Holidays” collection streaming on Disney+.
