Hughes finished writing the film by February 1991, after signing a six-picture deal with20th 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 inIllinois and New York, including at theRockefeller Center and the originalWorld Trade Center.
Home Alone 2 was theatrically released in the United States by 20th Century Fox on November 20, 1992. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances while criticizing its darker tone and violence, as well as its similarities to the first film. The film grossed over $359 million worldwide, becoming thethird-highest-grossing film of 1992.Home Alone 2 is the onlyHome 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 filmHome Alone 4 (2002) recast returning characters from the first two films to new actors.
InWinnetka, the McCallister family prepares to spend Christmas in Miami. Kate and Peter's ten-year-old youngest son Kevin is unhappy about this, complaining that Florida lacks the 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, causing a chain reaction that topples the choir and ruins the event. At home, a frustrated Kevin refuses to apologize to Buzz and berates his family for believing Buzz's lies and for wanting to spend Christmas in Florida. He storms off to the attic, wishing he could spend the holiday alone.
Earlier, 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 arriving in New York, Kevin quickly realizes he has the freedom to celebrate Christmas his way. Kevin tricks the desk clerk at thePlaza Hotel into giving him a room using Peter's credit card, and then explores the city. During a walk inCentral Park, he is frightened at the sight of a homeless woman surrounded bypigeons. Meanwhile, the McCallisters realize Kevin is missing and alert the police after arriving in Miami.
On Christmas Eve, Kevin visits a toy store, where he meets its kind-hearted owner, Mr. Duncan. Kevin 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 advises him to give one to someone special. Outside the store, Kevin encounters Harry and Marv, who previously tried to burgle his home,[a] and who recently escaped from prison. They threaten Kevin, who flees to the Plaza. However, when the concierge, Mr. Hector, confronts him about Peter's stolen credit card, Kevin escapes. He is captured by Harry and Marv, who reveal their plan to rob the toy store, but Kevin slips away.
The McCallisters travel to New York and stay at the Plaza while Kate begins searching the city for Kevin. Meanwhile, Kevin takes refuge in his uncle's empty townhouse, which is under renovation. In Central Park, he befriends the pigeon lady, who shares how 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 stopping Harry and Marv's robbery.
Rigging the townhouse with an array ofbooby traps, Kevin sets out to disrupt Harry and Marv's robbery by triggering the toy store's alarm. He lures the duo to the townhouse, where they fall victim to his traps, suffering numerous injuries. Kevin calls the police and leads Harry and Marv to Central Park. However, he slips on ice, allowing the burglars to capture him. As they prepare to shoot Kevin, the pigeon lady intervenes, throwing birdseed on them and attracting a massive flock of pigeons. The distraction allows the police to arrest Harry and Marv.
At the toy store, Mr. Duncan finds an apology note from Kevin attached to a brick, explaining the broken window. Remembering Kevin's love of Christmas trees, Kate heads to theRockefeller Center Christmas Tree, where she finds Kevin. 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 to give her one of the turtle doves as a token of friendship.
Hillary Wolf as Megan McCallister, Kevin's oldest sister
Tim Curry as Concierge / Mr. Hector,[5][7] the concierge at the Plaza Hotel who is suspicious of Kevin
Brenda Fricker as Pigeon Lady, a homeless woman in Central Park
The McCallister cast also includes: Maureen Elisabeth Shay as Linnie McCallister, Kevin's older sister;Michael C. Maronna as Jeff McCallister, Kevin's older brother; Terrie Snell as Aunt Leslie McCallister, Kevin's aunt; Jedidiah Cohen as Rod McCallister, Kevin's older cousin and the older son of Rob and Georgette;Senta Moses as Tracy McCallister, Kevin's older cousin and the oldest daughter of Frank and Leslie; Daiana Campeanu as Sondra McCallister, Kevin's older cousin and the middle daughter of Frank and Leslie.;Anna Slotky as Brooke McCallister, Kevin's younger cousin and the youngest daughter of Frank and Leslie.
Other cast includesLeigh Zimmerman as Fashion Model;Ralph Foody as Johnny (credited as "Gangster"), a gangster from the fictional filmAngels with Even Filthier Souls (the sequel toAngels with Filthy Souls from the first film); Clare Hoak as Gangster - "Dame", Johnny's girlfriend from the fictional filmAngels with Even Filthier Souls; Monica Devereux as Hotel Operator;Bob Eubanks as Ding-Dang-Dong Host;Rip Taylor as Celeb #1;Jaye P. Morgan as Celeb #2;Jimmie Walker as Celeb #3;Ally Sheedy as Pam Block - New York Ticket Agent; Rod Sell as Officer Bennett;Ron Canada as Cop in Times Square; and the future 45th and 47thpresident of the United StatesDonald Trump as himself, owner of thePlaza Hotel who directs Kevin to the lobby.
In February 1991, theLos Angeles Times reported thatJohn Hughes was to sign a six-picture deal with20th Century Fox; among the projects was asequel toHome Alone.[8] In May 1991,Macaulay Culkin was paid $4.5 million plus 5 percent of the film's gross to appear in the sequel,[9] compared to $110,000 for the original. The production budget was $28 million.[3]
John Williams returned to scoreHome 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 byLeslie Bricusse).[16] Two soundtrack albums of the film were released on November 20, 1992, with one featuring Williams' score and the other featuring pop music featured in the film.[17] Ten years later, a 2-disc Deluxe Edition of the film score soundtrack was released byVarèse Sarabande.[18]
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York – Original Score is a 1992 soundtrack composed and conducted byJohn Williams, who alsoscored thefirst installment in the franchise, and performed by theHollywood Studio Symphony. While the soundtrack is mostly a repeat of the first film's material,[19] 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.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York – Original Soundtrack Album is a 1992 soundtrack album that contains music from or inspired byHome Alone andHome Alone 2: Lost in New York. The album eventually was discontinued and later re-released asHome 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.
On the film's tenth anniversary,Varèse Sarabande released a two-disc special edition soundtrack entitledHome 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.[21][22]
The film was first released byFox Video onVHS andLaserDisc on July 27, 1993. It was later released onDVD on October 5, 1999, as a basic package.[29] The film was released onBlu-ray on October 6, 2009, with no special features,[30] and was released alongsideHome Alone in a collection pack on October 5, 2010.[31] The film was reissued again on DVD and Blu-ray on October 6, 2015, alongside all fiveHome Alone franchise films, titledHome Alone: 25th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Christmas Edition.[32]
Home Alone 2 opened with $31.1 million from 2,222 theaters, averaging $14,009 per site.[33][34] It broke the short-lived record set one week earlier byBram Stoker's Dracula for having the largest November opening weekend.[35] The film went on to hold this record until 1994 when it was taken byInterview with the Vampire.[36] Additionally, it achieved the highest opening weekend for aChris Columbus film and would hold that record until it was surpassed byHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in 2001.[37] It started off better thanHome Alone, grossing $100 million in 24 days compared to 33 days for the original.[1] However the finalbox office gross was lower with $173.6 million in the United States and Canada and a worldwide total of $359 million,[4] compared to $476 million for the first film.[38] The film was released in theUnited Kingdom on December 11, 1992, and topped the country's box office that weekend.[39] The film is thethird-highest-grossing film released in 1992 behindThe Bodyguard andAladdin.[40] In the United States and Canada, it grossed more thanThe Bodyguard andranked second.[41]
OnRotten TomatoesHome Alone 2: Lost in New York has an approval rating of 35% based on 57 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A change of venue – and more sentimentality and violence – can't obscure the fact thatHome Alone 2: Lost in New York is a less inspired facsimile of its predecessor."[42] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[43] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, a grade lower than the "A" earned by its predecessor.[44][45]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film two out of four stars and stated that "cartoon violence is only funny in cartoons. Most of the live-action attempts to duplicate animation have failed, because when flesh-and-blood figures hit the pavement, we can almost hear the bones crunch, and it isn't funny."[46]Kenneth Turan, reviewing for theLos Angeles Times, wrote: "Whatever was unforced and funny in the first film has become exaggerated here, whatever was slightly sentimental has been laid on with a trowel. The result, with some exceptions, plays like an over-elaborate parody of the first film, reminding us why we enjoyed it without being able to duplicate its appeal."[47]Dave Kehr of theChicago Tribune wrote the sequel "plays like a coarsened, self-parodying version of the original, in which the fantasy elements have become grubbier and more materialistic, the sentimentality more treacly and aggressive, and the slapstick violence—already astonishingly intense in the first film—even more graphic and sadistic."[48] Brian Lowry ofVariety noted the sequel's derivativeness when compared to the original film, but wrote the "action sequences are well-choreographed, if, perhaps, too mean-spirited even in light of their cartoonish nature".[49]
Janet Maslin forThe New York Times acknowledged that "Home Alone 2 may be lazily conceived, but it is staged with a sense of occasion and a lot of holiday cheer. The return of Mr. Culkin in this role is irresistible, even if this utterly natural comic actor has been given little new to do. Mr. Pesci and Mr. Stern bring great gusto to their characters' stupidity, to the point where they are far funnier just walking and talking than they are being hurt."[50] Reviewing forTime magazine,Richard Schickel noted "Home Alone 2 precisely follows the formula that made its predecessor the biggest grossing comedy in human history. But no, it is not a drag, and it is not a rip-off. Look on it as a twice-told fairy tale." He praised Hughes and Chris Columbus and felt "the details of the situations are developed vividly and originally. And they are presented with an energy and a conviction that sequels usually lack."[51] Duane Byrge ofThe Hollywood Reporter wrote that while the "sequel is merely a superimposition of the original, kids will be delighted" by it. He further praised Culkin as "breezily winning", felt Pesci and Stern deserved combat medals, and Curry served as "a terrific foil for Kevin's pranks".[52]
Culkin explained that he preferred the sequel more than the first film, "I got paid more. I think I own five percent of the net. And also 15 percent of the merchandising. So, if you buy aTalkboy I'm like yeah, I'll take 15 percent of that. Thank you very much."[53]
During the 21st century, online reviewers have looked more favorably on the film. John Nugent ofEmpire, in a 2022 article entitled 'WhyHome Alone 2: Lost In New York Is Better ThanHome Alone', argued that the film was "a sequel that effectively also functions as a remake, a film that recognises the greatness of what came before and wisely hews as close to that winning formula as possible." Nugent also opined that "by setting the final showdown in a house undergoing renovations, the filmmakers give themselves room to be more ambitious, wild, and far more brutal" and praised the work of stunt coordinator Freddie Hice since no CGI was used.[54] Also writing in 2022, Reid Goldberg ofCollider noted: "A significant part of the film's appeal... is that it's unapologetic in taking everything they loved about the first film to a higher level."[55]
Anovelization ofHome Alone 2 was written byTodd Strasser and published byScholastic in 1992 to coincide with the film.[56] The "point" version, which has the same storyline, was also novelized by A.L. Singer.[ISBN missing] An audiobook version was also released read by Tim Curry (who played the concierge in the film).[citation needed]
A third film with a new cast,Home Alone 3, followed in 1997. Two television movies,Home Alone 4, which features returning characters but with a different cast, andHome Alone: The Holiday Heist, aired in 2002 and 2012, respectively.Home Sweet Home Alone, the sixth film in the series which hasDevin Ratray reprise his role as Buzz, was released on the streaming serviceDisney+ in 2021.
^"CinemaScore".Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. RetrievedJanuary 4, 2021.
^Fraser, Jill Andresky (December 4, 1992)."Making the grade with filmgoers".Orlando Sentinel.Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. RetrievedJuly 5, 2022.Despite the violence, women liked the film more than men did. Overall, Cinemascore gave the movie an "A-."
