Unlike Kevin McCallister, Home Alone fans are most definitely not spending this holiday season watching rubbish. The film series’ first two installments are currently trending on streaming charts both at home and around the globe 35 years after Macualy Culkin’s breakout film role.
As of Dec. 9, Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York are respectively holding first and second place on Hulu’s Top 10 list in the United States, per data from FlixPatrol. Beyond resonating with viewers of the Disney-owned streamer, the franchise’s first installment is also doing numbers internationally, holding the top spot on Amazon’s Top 10 list in Canada, Italy and Belgium, while ranking sixth place in the United Kingdom.
The inaugural film has proven popular on Disney+ as well, ranking number one in Austria, Switzerland, Norway, San Marino, Italy and Austria, with its sequel placing second in Austria, Switzerland, and Norway. Globally, the holiday classic is in second place, with the sequel in fourth place.
Culkin And His Family Are Also In The Home Alone Holiday Spirit
Nostalgic millennials aren’t the only ones ringing in the holiday season by revisiting these ’90s classics. Culkin recently shared that the Disney+ offering has emerged as a favorite among his two young children, whom he shares with his long-term partner, actress Brenda Song.
“I show that movie to my kids all the time,” Culkin shared during a recent interview with Deadline. The experience of watching Home Alone alongside Kevin himself, however, has yet to resonate with the actor’s toddlers. “They have no idea who they’re sitting next to, the entire time,” he continued. “They just go, ‘Oh, there’s Kevin.’ They call him Kevin Disney, because of Disney+, which shows the little holiday trailer.”
Not even seeing their father’s childhood photos could help Culkin’s kids ID their father as the youngest McCallister sibling. Instead, they simply thought their dad “looked a lot like Kevin.”
“Last night, I was putting my oldest to bed, and he wanted to see some family photos of my family and stuff,” Culkin remembered. “I was able to dig one up, and he immediately gravitates towards the bottom left corner. And he goes, “Hey, that kid looks like Kevin. Who is that?” I go, that’s me. And he didn’t put it together.”
To Culkin, his son’s failure to recognize him as Kevin is actually “good.” “No, no, not yet. Not that,” the Zootopia 2 star remembered. “He just thinks I looked a lot like Kevin.”
The actor is aware that it’s only a matter of time before he has to recount his child star origins to his kids. “It’s going to hit him, one day. He’ll watch the movie, and his system will go, ‘Wait a second,'” Culkin said, noting that he’s “awaiting” this epiphany. “I’m sure some kid at recess is going to spoil it for him, like, there is no Santa Claus — that kind of thing,” he added. Even so, Culkin said he’s dedicated to keeping the veil up for as long as possible.”
Regardless of when his son manages to put two and two together, Culkin said it’s still exciting to see these films resonate with viewers decades later. “It’s fun to get it back on its feet and actually see it in front of getting people to be enthusiastic about it,” he added. “I was struck at the reception people have. It has been 35 years. Kind of crazy.”
Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York are streaming on Disney+.