Disney has now owned the 20th Century Fox library long enough that we should start to see just what properties from that company that Disney considers not only valuable but viable in the 2020s. Take, for example, the announcement today that they are producing a brand new Home Alone movie, based on the hugely popular franchise of the early 1990s, for their Disney+ streaming service. One suspects the original film must be very popular among Disney+ subscribers.

The new film is titled Home Sweet Home Alone, and it features a new cast in basically the same scenario as the very first Home Alone from 1990: A precocious kid is accidentally left home alone when his family goes away for the holidays, and winds up having to fend off a group of bumbling burglars. (That means, sadly, that Macaulay Culkin is not back in this film as the immortal Kevin McCallister.)

Here is the film’s official synopsis and cast list:

Max Mercer is a mischievous and resourceful young boy who has been left behind while his family is in Japan for the holidays. So when a married couple attempting to retrieve a priceless heirloom set their sights on the Mercer family’s home, it is up to Max to protect it from the trespassers…and he will do whatever it takes to keep them out. Hilarious hijinks of epic proportions ensue, but despite the absolute chaos, Max comes to realize that there really is no place like home sweet home. The film stars Ellie Kemper (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), Rob Delaney (“Deadpool 2”), Archie Yates (“Jojo Rabbit”), Aisling Bea (“Living with Yourself”), Kenan Thompson (“Saturday Night Live”), Tim Simons (“Veep”), Pete Holmes (“The Secret Life of Pets 2”), Devin Ratray (“Home Alone”), Ally Maki (“Toy Story 4”), Chris Parnell (“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”) and is directed by Dan Mazer (“Dirty Grandpa”).

I have two young kids, and they love the Home Alone movies. (They might actually like the sequel more than the original — those scenes set in the toy store are calculated for maximum kid fantasies.) I don’t think they particularly care about seeing Macaulay Culkin in a new Home Alone, or anyone else for that matter, as long as a kid gets to hit adults in the balls with elaborate Rube Goldberg devices. But me, I’m a grown man with refined tastes. And I think the only proper way to do a Home Alone in 2021 is as a legacyquel with Culkin as the dad who accidentally leaves his own kid at home. That movie writes itself. Get on it, Disney.

Home Sweet Home Alone premieres on Disney+ on November 12, 2021. In the meantime, Home AloneHome Alone 2: Lost in New York, and Home Alone 3 are all currently available to stream on Disney+.

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