Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Short description
The McCallister family is heading to Florida for the Christmas holidays, but a rush at the airport leaves the youngest son, Kevin, on the wrong plane and bound for New York City instead. Arriving alone with his father's credit card, he checks into a hotel and makes the most of the trip, until he crosses paths again with the two burglars he outwitted a year earlier, who have escaped from prison and are planning a robbery on Christmas Eve. Kevin sets out to stop them, preparing another series of traps for the pair.
Chris Columbus directed the film, the fourth in his directing career in chronological order, following Only the Lonely and preceding Mrs. Doubtfire. John Hughes wrote and produced. Macaulay Culkin returns as Kevin, with Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as Harry and Marv, alongside Catherine O'Hara, John Heard and Brenda Fricker. Around 77 cast members and 171 crew are credited.
Made for about 18 million US dollars, the film took roughly 359 million dollars worldwide, a very large return on its budget and a strong commercial result for a family sequel. On IMDb it holds 6.9 out of 10 from around 453,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.8 out of 10 from nearly 11,000 votes. A critics' rating of 4.5 out of 10 from 57 reviews is markedly lower than the audience scores, indicating that viewers received it considerably more warmly than reviewers did.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film's editing was done by Raja Gosnell, who directed the third installment five years later.
- A cameo role went to the daughter of the film's director, Chris Columbus. Eleanor Columbus played a little shopper in the toy store. And Columbus himself appeared as one of the toy store employees at Duncan's.
- While staying at a hotel in Florida, the McCallister family happily watches the film "It's a Wonderful Life" (1947) on television.
- The gangster film that Kevin is watching doesn't exist. The clip was specifically filmed for use in the movie.
- As in the first part, but now not at home, but in a limousine, Kevin watches Chuck Jones’ cartoon “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” (1966).
- For participating in the sequel, Macaulay Culkin received a fixed fee of $4.5 million and a 5% share of the film’s box office revenue. At the time, this was the largest check ever written to a child actor.
- The toy store is called "Duncan's Toy Chest." It was named in honor of executive producer Duncan Henderson.
- During a hotel stay in Florida, the McCallister family cheerfully watches the film "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) on television.
- According to Joe Pesci, the film crew showered him and Daniel Stern's character with real birdseed, and approximately 300 pigeons were used in the scene.
- Filming took place from December 9, 1991, to May 1, 1992.
- The song “All Alone for Christmas”, which plays during scenes of Kevin walking around New York, was used as the soundtrack for a video game of the same name for Sega.
- In the first part of the film, Kevin is watching a movie called 'Angels with Dirty Souls.' In the second part, Kevin is watching the sequel, called 'Angels with Filthy Souls.'
- Several weeks after the film's release, "Tiger Electronics" released a real-life version of the Talkboy (a compact cassette recorder) that Kevin actively uses throughout the movie. Like in the film, it could alter a child's voice to sound like an adult male. Furthermore, a female version of the toy, called Talkgirl, was also released on the back of its success. This version was designed for girls and could speak with a female voice. It was also incredibly popular.
- It was particularly difficult to film scenes at the airport. During filming, the airport continued to operate as usual, but Macaulay Culkin’s popularity required additional security measures and protection of the actor from fans and paparazzi. These scenes were filmed at O'Hare International Airport in February 1992, where Christmas decorations were specifically left up for the filming.
- In the scene where Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) enters the Plaza Hotel and asks a passerby – “Where is the lobby?”, he is answered by the famous American businessman – Donald Trump, who was at that time the owner of the hotel.
- According to director Chris Columbus, half of the film's budget had to be spent on artificial snow in Central Park, and shortly after filming ended, New York City was literally blanketed in snow.
- For the filming of scenes with Brenda Fricker, who played the woman in Central Park covered in pigeons, a special pigeon trainer was invited along with trained pigeons.
- Macaulay Culkin received a fee of $8 million for his role in the sequel. At the time, it was the largest check ever written to a 12-year-old boy.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
