Kenan Thompson has been named a star of a new film with a nostalgic flair. The Home Alone film franchise returns with a new story and new faces. Announced on Thursday (Aug. 12) by Disney+ and 20th Century Studios, Home Sweet Home Alone is an all-new adventure comedy exclusive to the streaming service. The official synopsis, provided in a press release, reads as follows:
“Max Mercer is 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 set 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. Hilarious hijinks of epic proportions ensue, but despite the absolute chaos, Max comes to realize that there really is no place like home sweet home.”
Alongside Thompson, Home Sweet Home stars Ellie Kemper, Rob Delaney, Archie Yates, Aisling Bea, Tim Simons, Pete Holmes, Devin Ratray, and more. The screenplay is by Mikey Day and Streeter Seidel and is adapted from a screenplay by John Hughes who wrote and produced the original Home Alone.
This is one of Thompson’s latest efforts to continue his longstanding career in television and film. The 43-year-old who has made audiences of all age ranges laugh since he was a child on Nickelodeon’s All That and Kenan And Kel, also has a new self-titled sitcom on NBC. Kenan debuted in February and has already begun production on season two.
On Kenan, which Thompson also executively produces, he stars as a widower who is “juggling a high-profile job as the host of an Atlanta morning show and raising his two girls.” He revealed to NPR the script was tweaked for a less-sad storyline. The Saturday Night Live star is nominated for a 2021 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for the sitcom.
“[The original pilot] started at the reception of the funeral. So the pain was so recent that it kind of didn’t allow for a comedic setting to really take hold, and the show just played very melancholy,” recalled the Good Burger comedian. “So we kind of moved it away, maybe a year or so. And it’s not so fresh and so recent that he can talk without falling apart. But still spiraling out of control because he’s juggling so much emotion with responsibility, and running a show, and all kinds of things. So just being overly vulnerable, but also being a dumb man, and not really one to admit when he’s wrong when he needs to.”
Watch a scene from Kenan below: