We’re fast approaching the festive season and pretty darned soon we’ll be breaking out the usual suspects, probably starting with Die Hard and then continuing on with films like Jingle All The Way, Home Alone and, of course, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
Love this time of year.
Anyway, this is related. We’ve come across this fantastic nostalgic snippet of information today which actually involves the last two movies on that list. Chris Columbus, who went on to direct Mrs. Doubtfire and the first two Harry Potter movies, gave an interview with Chicago Magazine, and revealed he was down on his luck after his 1989 film Heartbreak Hotel bombed. It seems that Columbus was tied up with the Christmas Vacation movie, but ended up not doing it allegedly because of Mr. Chevy Chase. He didn;t get on too well with the funnyman and ended up leaving the project. After he passed, it seems that writer John Hughes offered him his next script Home Alone, and Hollywood history, and Columbus himself, was made.
Here’s what he had to say.
“Around that time, John Hughes sent me the script for Christmas Vacation. I love Christmas, so to do a Christmas comedy had been a dream. I went out to dinner with Chevy Chase. To be completely honest, Chevy treated me like dirt. But I stuck it out and even went as far as to shoot second unit. Some of my shots of downtown Chicago are still in the movie. Then I had another meeting with Chevy, and it was worse. I called John and said, ‘There’s no way I can do this movie. I know I need to work, but I can’t do it with this guy.’ John was very understanding. About two weeks later, I got two scripts at my in-laws’ house in River Forest. One was Home Alone, with a note from John asking if I wanted to direct. I thought, Wow, this guy is really supporting me when no one else in Hollywood was going to. John was my savior.”
Destiny huh? Read more from the interview with Columbus at the end of the link above.
