Home Alone Reboot With Ellie Kemper, Kenan Thompson Set for Nov. Release on Disney+

In the realm of Disney+ features that nobody was really clamoring for, the company is forging ahead on their Home Alone reboot, the hilariously titled Home Sweet Home Alone. Regardless, according to Deadline it’s now scheduled to come exclusively to Disney+ on Nov. 12, 2021, and it will do so with a pretty impressive supporting cast of veteran comedy presences.

Anchoring the affair is 12-year-old British child actor Archie Yates, who was memorably seen as protagonist JoJo’s best friend in Taika Waititi’s JoJo Rabbit. Notably, he won’t be playing Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McCallister character, as this reboot is electing to start fully from scratch by naming the character “Max Mercer.” Various installments in the Home Alone series to date (three theatrical, two TV movies) have waffled back on forth on keeping “Kevin” around, with the character not appearing in Home Alone 3 or Home Alone: The Holiday Heist, but being back in the spotlight (sans Culkin) in Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House. According to Deadline, though, this new Disney+ installment is as follows:

Yates will star as Max Mercer, a mischievous and resourceful young boy who has been left behind while his family is in Japan for the holidays. So when a married couple attempting to retrieve a priceless heirloom sets their sights on the Mercer family’s home, it is up to Max to protect it from the trespassers, and he will do whatever it takes to keep them out. The reboot promises hilarious hijinks of epic proportions, and despite the absolute chaos, Max eventually comes to realize that there really is no place like home sweet home.

So yeah, almost sounds like a Home Alone movie. Notable among the cast are many familiar comedy names, including Ellie Kemper, Kenan Thompson, Rob Delaney, Andy Daly, Chris Parnell, Tim Simons, Ally Maki, Aisling Bea and more. The script is from SNL’s Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell, reportedly from a story originally conceived by Home Alone creator John Hughes, who passed away in 2009. Before you get too excited about that possibility, though, one should probably note that this reboot is being direct by Dirty Grandpa’s Dan Mazer … so make of that what you will.

At the very least, we’ll be crossing our fingers for a satisfying Macaulay Culkin cameo.