Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a 1992 American Christmas comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written and produced by John Hughes. The sequel to Home Alone (1990) and the second installment in the Home Alone franchise, the film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Tim Curry, Brenda Fricker and Catherine O'Hara. The story follows Kevin McCallister as he is separated from his family on their flight to Miami, Florida and ends up in New York City. While initially enjoying his newfound experiences, Kevin soon encounters the Wet Bandits again after their escape from prison.

Hughes finished writing the film by February 1991, after signing a six-picture deal with 20th Century Fox. Culkin's return was confirmed in May and the rest of the cast was finalized soon after. Principal photography took place between December 1991 and May 1992 on location in Illinois and New York, including at Rockefeller Center and the original World Trade Center.

Home Alone 2 was theatrically released in the United States by 20th Century Fox on November 20, 1992 to mixed reviews from critics. It grossed over $359 million worldwide, and became the third-highest-grossing film of 1992. Home Alone 2 is the only Home Alone sequel to feature the majority of the cast from the first film. Home Alone 3 (1997) featured a new cast and characters, and the television film Home Alone 4 (2002) recast returning characters from the first two films to new actors.

Plot

In Chicago, the McCallister family prepares to spend Christmas in Miami, Florida. Kate and Peter's 10-year-old son Kevin is unhappy, believing Miami lacks the traditional Christmas atmosphere of snow and trees. During a school Christmas pageant, Kevin's oldest brother Buzz humiliates him in front of the audience. Kevin retaliates by shoving Buzz, inadvertently knocking over the entire choir and ruining the event. At home, Kevin refuses to apologize and berates his family for accepting Buzz's insincere apology and for vacationing in Miami. He storms off to the attic, wishing he could spend the holiday alone.

During the night, Peter accidentally resets his alarm clock, causing the family to oversleep. In the ensuing chaotic rush through the airport, Kevin mistakenly boards a flight to New York City while carrying Peter's bag, which contains his wallet. Initially frightened upon arrival, Kevin soon realizes he has the freedom to celebrate Christmas on his own terms. He tricks a desk clerk at the Plaza Hotel into giving him a room using Peter's credit card and explores the city. During a walk in Central Park, he is frightened by a homeless woman surrounded by pigeons. Meanwhile, the McCallisters realize Kevin is missing and alert the police after arriving in Miami.

On Christmas Eve, Kevin visits a toy store and meets its kind-hearted owner, Mr. Duncan. He learns that the store's Christmas proceeds will be donated to a children's hospital. Mr. Duncan gifts Kevin a pair of ceramic turtledoves, symbolizing eternal friendship, and encourages him to give one to someone special. Outside the store, Kevin encounters Harry and Marv—criminals he thwarted the previous Christmas—who have recently escaped from prison. They threaten Kevin, who flees back to the Plaza. When hotel staff confronts him about Peter's credit card, which has been reported stolen, Kevin escapes. He is recaptured by Harry and Marv, who reveal their plan to rob the toy store, but Kevin manages to slip away.

The McCallisters travel to New York and stay at the Plaza while Kate searches the city for Kevin. Kevin takes refuge in his uncle's vacant townhouse, which is under renovation. In Central Park, he befriends the pigeon lady, who explains that her life fell apart after being betrayed by someone she loved. Kevin encourages her to trust others again and takes her advice to perform a good deed by foiling Harry and Marv's planned robbery.

After rigging the townhouse with a series of booby traps, Kevin interrupts the robbery by throwing a brick through the toy store's window, triggering the alarm. He lures Harry and Marv to the townhouse, where they are repeatedly injured by the traps. Kevin calls the police and leads Harry and Marv to Central Park, but slips on ice and is captured. As they prepare to kill him, the pigeon lady intervenes, pelting the pair with birdseed that causes a massive flock of pigeons to attack them, before the police arrive to arrest them. Mr. Duncan later finds Kevin's apology note attached to the brick, explaining his actions.

Remembering Kevin's love of Christmas trees, Kate goes to the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, where she reunites with him. They apologize to each other and reconcile. On Christmas morning, a truckload of gifts from a grateful Mr. Duncan is delivered to the McCallisters' hotel room. After celebrating with his family, Kevin visits the pigeon lady in Central Park and gives her one of the turtledoves as a token of friendship.

Cast

Macaulay Culkin as Kevin, a 10-year-old boy Joe Pesci as Harry, a thief and one of the Sticky Bandits duo Daniel Stern as Marv, a thief and the other half of the Sticky Bandits John Heard as Peter, Kevin's father Catherine O'Hara as Kate, Kevin's mother Eddie Bracken as Mr. Duncan, the proprietor of Duncan's Toy Chest Devin Ratray as Buzz, Kevin's malicious oldest brother who bullies him Kieran Culkin as Fuller, Kevin's youngest cousin and the son of Frank and Leslie Gerry Bamman as Uncle Frank, Kevin's uncle and Peter's older brother Rob Schneider as Cedric, the bellhop at the Plaza Hotel Dana Ivey as Hester Stone, the desk clerk at the Plaza Hotel Hillary Wolf as Megan, Kevin's oldest sister Tim Curry as Mr. Hector, the concierge at the Plaza Hotel Brenda Fricker as Pigeon Lady, a homeless woman in Central Park

The McCallister cast also includes: Maureen Elisabeth Shay as Linnie, Kevin's older sister; Michael C. Maronna as Jeff, Kevin's older brother; Terrie Snell as Aunt Leslie, Kevin's aunt; Jedidiah Cohen as Rod, Kevin's older cousin and the older son of Rob and Georgette; Senta Moses as Tracy, Kevin's older cousin and the oldest daughter of Frank and Leslie; Daiana Campeanu as Sondra, Kevin's older cousin and the middle daughter of Frank and Leslie; and Anna Slotky as Brooke, Kevin's younger cousin and the youngest daughter of Frank and Leslie.

Other cast includes Ralph Foody as Johnny (credited as "Gangster"), a gangster from the fictional film Angels with Even Filthier Souls (the sequel to Angels with Filthy Souls from the first film); Clare Hoak as Gangster – "Dame", Johnny's girlfriend from the fictional film Angels with Even Filthier Souls; and Donald Trump as himself, the then owner of the Plaza Hotel who directs Kevin to the lobby.

Production

In February 1991, the Los Angeles Times reported that John Hughes was to sign a six-picture deal with 20th Century Fox; among the projects was a sequel to Home Alone. In May 1991, Macaulay Culkin was paid $4.5 million plus 5 percent of the film's gross to appear in the sequel, compared to $110,000 for the original. The production budget was $28 million.

Principal photography took place from December 9, 1991, to May 1, 1992, over the course of 144 days;Weekly Variety Magazine; December 9, 1991; Page 11Daily Variety Magazine; May 1, 1992; Page 12 the film was shot in Winnetka, Illinois; O'Hare International Airport in Chicago; Evanston, Illinois; Chicago; and New York City. According to director Chris Columbus, Donald Trump, the owner of the Plaza Hotel at the time, allowed the crew to shoot scenes in the hotel lobby and one of its suites in exchange for a cameo appearance in the film in addition to the standard fee for film productions. Joe Pesci suffered burns to his head while filming the scene in which Harry's hat is set on fire.

Music John Williams returned to score Home Alone 2, as well as other festive tracks. While the film featured the first film's theme song "Somewhere in My Memory", it also contained its own theme entitled "Christmas Star" (lyrics by Leslie Bricusse). Two soundtrack albums of the film were released on November 20, 1992, with one featuring Williams's score and the other featuring pop music featured in the film. Ten years later, a 2-disc Deluxe Edition of the film score soundtrack was released by Varèse Sarabande.

Score Original Score

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York – Original Score is a 1992 soundtrack composed and conducted by John Williams, who also scored the first installment in the franchise, and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. While the soundtrack is mostly a repeat of the first film's material, there are a few new prominent themes such as "Christmas Star" and "Plaza Hotel and Duncan's Toy Store". Ultimately, the soundtrack fell out of print.

Soundtrack Original Soundtrack Album

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York – Original Soundtrack Album is a 1992 soundtrack album that contains music from or inspired by Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. The album eventually was discontinued and later re-released as Home Alone Christmas in 1993 with an alternative track listing. Both versions feature tracks of John Williams's score, though the tracks are of different songs between the original album and its re-release. Original Soundtrack Album track listing

Home Alone Christmas track listing

The Deluxe Edition

On the film's tenth anniversary, Varèse Sarabande released a two-disc special edition soundtrack entitled Home Alone 2: Lost in New York – The Deluxe Edition. The soundtrack contains John Williams's cues found on the previous releases as well as additional compositions that were left out from the final film. This release is also known for resolving a mastering error that caused the music to be inaccurately pitched.

Release Marketing

Numerous video games based on Home Alone 2 were released by THQ for such systems as the Sega Genesis, the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy and personal computers, mostly in late 1992. A separate hand-held game was released by Tiger Electronics. Numerous board games were also released, some based around play cards, while another was a close emulation of the classic Mouse Trap.

The Talkboy cassette recorder was produced as a tie-in for the movie by Tiger Electronics based on specifications provided by John Hughes and the movie studio, and sold particularly well after the film was released on home video. Additional promotional partners included American Airlines through which the McCallisters make their trip via the airline's two Boeing 767s, the Coca-Cola Company, Jack in the Box, Hardee's, and Roy Rogers Restaurants.

Home media

The film was first released by Fox Video on VHS and LaserDisc on July 27, 1993. It was successful in the home video market, and became the eighth-best-selling video of 1993 in the United States. It was later released on DVD on October 5, 1999, as a basic package. The film was released on Blu-ray on October 6, 2009, with no special features, and was released alongside Home Alone in a collection pack on October 5, 2010. The film was reissued again on DVD and Blu-ray on October 6, 2015, alongside all five Home Alone franchise films, titled Home Alone: 25th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Christmas Edition.

Reception Box office