Harry Potter director calls Disney remakes a “waste of time”
Disney is remaking Home Alone. That seemed to push director Chris Columbus over the edge, about that and remakes in general. “It’s a waste of time as far as I’m concerned.”
Disney has been remaking a lot of movies over the past few years, from Beauty and the Beast to The Lion King to Mulan, with lots more planned. We’ve all been thinking it, but now extremely famous Hollywood director Chris Columbus has said it: the incessant batch of Disney reboots are a “waste of time.”
Columbus made his remarks after Disney announced that it would be remaking Columbus’ much-beloved home invasion comedy Home Alone. This, it seems, was one step too far for the 62-year-old director, who has also directed classics like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Speaking to Insider, he made his opinion pretty clear: “It’s a waste of time as far as I’m concerned. What’s the point? I’m a firm believer that you don’t remake films that have had the longevity of Home Alone. You’re not going to create lightning in a bottle again.”
"It’s like doing a paint-by-numbers version of a Disney animated film—a live-action version of that. What’s the point? It’s been done. Do your own thing. Even if you fail miserably, at least you have come up with something original."
Of course, Home Alone did have a sequel — Home Alone 2: Lost in New York — that borrowed an awful lot from the first movie…except that it was in New York. But according to Columbus, there’s a distinction. “I can even be accused of it myself, with Home Alone 2,” he admitted. “That movie is basically a remake of the first Home Alone. Does it need to exist? Yes, because some of those stunts make me laugh really hard, but I just don’t believe it should be done. Listen, have fun. I just feel, do something new. Life is short.”
For the record, Disney has at least 16 remakes in development at the moment, including remakes of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, Robin Hood and The Sword in the Stone. The remakes so far have been huge financial successes, so it’s easy to see why Disney keeps making them, whatever you think about their lack of originality.
For what it’s worth, the forthcoming Home Alone remake will star Archie Yates of Jojo Rabbit, alongside Kenan Thompson and Ellie Kemper.
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