Macaulay Culkin Awards and Young Artist Awards. At the height of his fame, he was regarded as the most successful child actor since Shirley Temple. Culkin ranked at number two on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid-Stars" and E!'s list of the "50 Greatest Child Stars". He stopped acting in 1994, making his return in 2003 with a role on the television show "Will and Grace" and in the film "Party Monster" (2003). He wrote an autobiographical book, "Junior", which was published in 2006. In 2013, Culkin co-founded the New York-based, pizza-themed comedy rock band the Pizza Underground, of which he
Home Alone the budget grew from $14 to $17 million. Columbus' work with "Home Alone" began several years earlier when Hughes helped him secure the directing job for "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation". That project ended poorly when a personality clash between Columbus and Chevy Chase led to Columbus leaving the movie. Hughes then gave him the script to "Home Alone", which he accepted. Hughes had originally asked Patrick Read Johnson to direct but declined due to his commitment on "Spaced Invaders". Johnson would go onto direct "Baby's Day Out", another film written and produced by Hughes. Hughes suggested to Columbus that they