When news first broke that Disney was acquiring 20th Century Fox, it raised a lot of questions. What would that mean for superhero franchises like the Fantastic Four or X-Men? Does Disney have full control over the original trilogy Star Wars films now? What would become of repertory screenings of classic Fox films? We still don’t have all the answers, although certain bits of information are starting to trickle out. Like, for instance, the news that Disney chief executive Bob Iger has plans to “reimagine” a handful of family movies from the Fox library, including Home Alone.
According to BBC News, Iger had a conference call with investors this week where he told them a remake of the 1990 John Hughes Christmas movie was in the works. In addition to franchise films like Avatar, Planet of the Apes, and Deadpool–which Disney now owns–“we’re also focused on leveraging Fox’s vast library of great titles to further enrich the content mix on our platforms,” Iger announced. In addition to Home Alone, he said there are also plans to rework Night At the Museum, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Cheaper By the Dozen for Disney audiences.
This will likely come as a bit of a blow to fans of Home Alone, one of the most beloved and celebrated family holiday films of all time. The original Macaulay Culkin-starring film followed a young boy accidentally left behind as his family travels for Christmas. When two burglars try to enter his own, he devises a series of booby traps to ward them off, to comedic effect. The film was written and produced by the late John Hughes, and directed by Chris Columbus.
No word on how Disney plans to remix the story–we don’t know if it’s a straight-up remake, a sequel, or something else– but Iger implied the new Home Alone will air on the Mouse House’s upcoming streaming service, Disney+.
Images: 20th Century Fox
