We are deep into the Christmas movie season and director Chris Columbus is opening up about quitting “Christmas Vacation” to make “Home Alone.” Why would he bail on one iconic Christmas movie for another? As it turns out, “Vacation” franchise star Chevy Chase (“Community”) was impossible to work with.
1989’s “Christmas Vacation” was the third entry into the National Lampoon series. It was ultimately directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik (“Reginald the Vampire”), from a script by the late John Hughes (“The Breakfast Club”). It stars Chase alongside on-screen wife Beverly D’Angelo (“Drugstore June”) on yet another ill-fated Griswold family trip
Columbus Meeting Chase
In a recent interview, Columbus openly talked about leaving “Christmas Vacation.” The director was already in the middle of second unit shooting when he first met Chase. “I was signed on…and then I met Chevy Chase,” he told Vanity Fair. “Even given my situation at the time, where I desperately needed to make a film, I realized I couldn’t work with the guy. I was one of the many who couldn’t work with him. And I called John and I said, ‘This is really hard for me, but I can’t do this movie with Chevy Chase.’ We were in the midst of shooting second unit. We didn’t start shooting the movie or building sets. But it was December, so I had to go to downtown Chicago and shoot all of the department stores and all of that. I had two meetings with Chevy.”
“My first meeting with him, I sat down with him. It was just the two of us,” Columbus continues. “He had to know I was directing the movie. I talked about how I saw the movie, how I wanted to make the movie. He didn’t say anything. I went through about a half hour of talking. He didn’t say a word. And then he stops and he says—and this makes no sense to any human being on the planet, but I’m telling you. I probably have never told this story. Forty minutes into the meeting, he says, ‘Wait a second. You’re the director?’ And I said, ‘Yeah…I’m directing the film.’ And he said to me the most surreal, bizarre thing. I still haven’t been able to make any sense out of it. He said, ‘Oh, I thought you were a drummer.’ I said, ‘Uhh, okay. Let’s start talking about the film again.’ After about 30 seconds, he said, ‘I got to go.’”
The Second Meeting
Despite being baffled by Chase’s dismissive attitude he did meet the comedian a second time. This time with Hughes by his side to hopefully keep everything on topic. “I was basically nonexistent” at the table as Chevy and Hughes talked to each other about everything but “Christmas Vacation.”
“We spent two hours together, and I left the dinner and I thought, ‘There’s no way I can make a movie with this guy,’” Columbus explained. “First of all, he’s not engaged. He’s treating me like shit. I don’t need this. I’d rather not work again. I’d rather write…Who says anything like that to anybody? It makes no sense. So to tell that story almost makes no sense, but it actually happened. I thought, This was how we’re going to work together? I’m going to be on set and he’s not listening.”
“Home Alone”
This second meeting was the nail in the coffin for Columbus’ involvement with Chase and “Christmas Vacation.” He called Hughes soon after to bow out of the project, which the filmmaker understood.
“I quit ‘Christmas Vacation.’ The next weekend, I got another script from John—and it’s ‘Home Alone.’ ‘Home Alone,’ for me, was even more personal, a better script. And I thought, iI can really do something with this, and I don’t have to deal with Chevy Chase.”
There is an old saying in Hollywood that you never work with animals or children. But apparently in Columbus’ case it’s animals and Chevy Chase. Chase has yet to respond to Columbus’ remarks, but given his notorious behavior on the set of “Community,” few are doubting their validity.
We’ll keep you posted on updates about the situation if/when they develop. “Christmas Vacation” is currently streaming on Max, Hulu, and AMC+. You can catch “Home Alone” on Disney+.
