Macaulay Culkin for Best Villain for his performance). He also appeared, while a student at the School of American Ballet, in a filmed version of "The Nutcracker" as the title role in 1993, which was staged by Peter Martins from the 1954 George Balanchine New York City Ballet version of the work. He was in the films "Getting Even with Dad" (1994), "The Pagemaster" (1994) and "Richie Rich" (1994), which were all only mildly successful at the box office. In 1994, Macaulay took a break from acting after his 15th film in seven years. Desiring a "normal life", he went to a
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