Home Alone is a 1990 American Christmas family comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. The film stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, a boy who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation. Kevin initially relishes being home alone, but soon has to contend with two would-be burglars played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. The film also features Catherine O'Hara and John Heard as Kevin's parents.
From its release until 2009, Home Alone was the highest-grossing comedy of all time until it was surpassed by The Hangover. It spawned a successful franchise with four sequels, three video games, and the main cast reprising their roles for the sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics.