Director Columbus’ holiday wish was to work with pal Kurt Russell again.
Chris Columbus directs his buddy Kurt Russell in ‘ Chronicles’ sequel
Christmastime has been the backdrop for some of filmmaker Chris Columbus’ career milestones: “Gremlins” ( 1984), one of his earliest produced screenplays, and the first two “Home Alone” films, which in the early 1990s made him the top comedy director in box office history.
Now he’s finally gone full North Pole — flying reindeer, elves and all.
“The Christmas Chronicles 2” comes to Netflix on Wednesday, Nov. 25, and as the title suggests, it is the sequel to the first “Chronicles,” a 2018’ s family adventure/ comedy that the longtime San Francisco resident produced but did not direct. Kurt Russell reprises his role as Santa Claus and Darby Camp is back as a nowteenage Kate, who has to help Santa stop a disgruntled former elf, played by Julian Dennison (“Hunt for the Wilderpeople”), from ruining Christmas. Russell’s partner of many years, Goldie Hawn, also expands her cameo from the first film as Mrs. Claus.
For Columbus, “Chronicles 2” was a return to yuletide themes that was driven by friendship.
“Kurt Russell and I just hit it off,” Columbus told The Chronicle on a video call from Los Angeles, where he now lives part of the year. “It’s a rare situation where you spend every day on the set together and you are just, really, in the same zone.”
The only other actors he has experienced such a close bond with, he said, were his “Only the Lonely” star John Candy and good friend Robin Williams, with whom he made “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Bicentennial Man.”
“We loved working together so much on the first film that when it came time to talk about a second film, I knew I wanted to direct him,” Columbus said of Russell. “As a result of that, I said I didn’t want to repeat what we did the first time around. I did it on ‘ Home Alone 2,’ which is basically a remake of the first ‘ Home Alone.’ I thought we needed to open up the world.”
“Chronicles 2” is a more ambitious production than the first. An elaborate Santa’s Village set was built for it in Vancouver, British Columbia, which the filmmaker said was bigger than any he has ever used, including those for the first two “Harry Potter” films he directed.
For his part, Russell grew 80% of the impressive beard he wears in the movie and all of the Jolly One’s flowing white mane, according to Columbus. As for Hawn, a top Hollywood star who has only done one other major movie role since 2002 ( 2017’ s “Snatched”), the part in the sequel had to be something special.
“I wanted Goldie Hawn to give us a Mrs. Claus who wasn’t some woman in wirerimmed glasses delivering Santa’s slippers to him,” Columbus said. “I wanted someone who is as formidable as Santa Claus himself. ... I wanted Goldie to portray her as a woman of great strength and great magic.”
Although he has used the holiday as a setting for comedies about gifts that turn into monsters and an accidentally abandoned kid fending for himself, Columbus thinks very seriously about Christmas.
“I find it an extraordinarily moving time of the year,” he said. “People are either at their happiest or at their loneliest or saddest. This particular Christmas is going to be tough on everyone, so it takes that initial theory and makes it much more complicated. But when people’s emotions are at that particular point, I think it’s a fascinating time to set a movie.”
Even though the John Hughes-scripted “Home Alone” movies were huge hits in the 1990s, Columbus can’t quite believe how they’ve become holiday perennials that constantly play on TV between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. He’s recently expressed skepticism about Disney’s plans to reboot the franchise and revealed that Donald Trump bullied his way into an appearance in the sequel.
“Quite frankly, the films of mine that have done well over the years were not initially met with positive reviews,” the usually upbeat filmmaker admitted. “So you don’t immediately think to yourself, ‘ Well, those are classics.’ Then ‘ Home Alone’ was No. 1 at the box office for 14 weeks. That validates it in an extraordinary way. But nothing validates the existence of the films more than longevity. ‘ Home Alone’ was my first movie that opened my eyes in that respect. Thirty years down the road, that’s a wonderful feeling.”
In recent years, however, a number of Columbus’ productions have earned lavish critical acclaim. Maiden Voyage, a company he and daughter Eleanor started seven years ago with assistance from the San Francisco Film Society, has helped make such independent darlings as
Robert Eggers’ “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse,” “Menashe,” “Patti Cake$” and “Yes, God, Yes.”
“The goal was to help firsttime filmmakers find financing for their films,” Columbus explained. “I attach myself as a producer or executive producer to help them get that financing, and also to help them along in the process if they need my help. It’s just been a joy and an extraordinary experience to be able to work with these younger filmmakers and feed off of their energy and enthusiasm. I’ve learned so much from that.”
Maiden Voyage is part of the reason why Columbus has spent so much time recently in Los Angeles, with its large pool of upandcoming talent. He initially moved his family to San Francisco in 1993 after filming “Mrs. Doubtfire” in the city with Williams.
“My wife and I thought this was a good place to raise kids,” Columbus said. “We saw how Robin dealt with living in San Francisco; nobody gave him a hassle. … San Franciscans’ egos are really solid. They’re not impressed that I’m a moviemaker, so you can get down to just being part of your community. That’s what I loved about living in San Francisco full time.”