Academy Award winner Joe Pesci is best known for two things: gangster movies and the Home Alone franchise. Now 79 years of age and near-enough retired, Pesci was recently asked whether he would ever return for a sequel to the latter... and he gave a rather surprising answer. Saying “never say never” while speaking with Variety, Pesci sounds like he would certainly consider coming back for another Christmas heist. If only you could capture the illusive innocence of the original movies.
“While you never say never, I think that it would be difficult to replicate not only the success but also the overall innocence of the originals. It’s a different time now; attitudes and priorities have changed in 30 years.”
Pesci played the role of hot-headed thief Harry in both 1990s Home Alone and the 1992 sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York alongside fellow burglar and Sticky Bandit Daniel Stern as Marv and Macaulay Culkin’s rambunctious, sadistically inventive kid, Kevin. Both Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York have become festive favorites all over the world, with the franchise never managing to capture the same magic as the first two outings.
There have since been several Home Alone sequels, Home Alone 3 in 1997, Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House in 2002, and Home Alone: The Holiday Heist in 2012. Each a much, much lesser effort than what came before. The latest attempt at Home Alone came in the form of Home Sweet Home Alone on Disney+, which was also sadly met with negative reviews.
So, if they found a way to do it, could Pesci be tempted to bring back Harry in a further Home Alone adventure? Or perhaps the future of the franchise, the much-discussed Stoned Alone from Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds, could find the perfect role for Pesci?
Will Stoned Alone Ever Happen?
Reynolds has reportedly been trying to get Stoned Alone, an R-rated take on Home Alone, off the ground for some time. The actor was first attached to the project back in 2018, with Euphoria director Augustine Frizzell hired to serve as director and working from a script written by Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider.
Stoned Alone, if it ever happens, will be “reminiscent of the hallowed comedy classic” and follow a weed-growing 'loser' (who would possibly be an adult Kevin McCallister) who misses his plane for a holiday skiing trip. As the title reveals, he decides to get high, and as the paranoia side effects set in, he believes he hears a break-in. As he discovers thieves have broken into his home, fully stoned and fueled by the weed, he must use whatever ingenuity he can muster in order to defend his castle.
Pesci meanwhile was recently tempted out of retirement for the upcoming action-comedy series, Bupkis. Described as a "heightened fictionalized version of Pete Davidson's life,” Bupkis stars comedian and Saturday Night Live alumni Pete Davidson alongside Edie Falco, Charlie Day, Ray Romano, Kenan Thompson, Brad Garrett, Chase Sui Wonders, Simon Rex, and Shane Gillis, with Pesci signed on to play Davidson’s grandfather.
Bupkis is due to premiere on Peacock in 2023.