Highlights
- Daniel Stern fought hard to get paid more for Home Alone 2 after realizing his co-stars made significantly more.
- Stern was underpaid initially, but courageously demanded $1.5 million from the studio for Home Alone 2's sequel.
- Despite his efforts, Daniel Stern earned $20 million, making him the second-richest star of the original Home Alone movie.
Home Alone is almost always a big part of the conversation when people talk about the most beloved family comedies of all time. After all, fans still want to know if Macaulay Culkin still gets royalties from the movie and which scene Catherine O’Hara hated filming.
Unfortunately for Home Alone's Daniel Stern, his career didn't take off as he hoped it would. With that in mind, it is a good thing that Stern fought so hard to get paid more for Home Alone after realizing how much more his co-stars were making.
This article will reveal what Daniel Stern revealed about his fight to get paid more for Home Alone 2. Then, the article will look at which former Home Alone star is the richest in 2024.
Daniel Stern Fired His Agent To Get A Huge Pay Raise For Home Alone's Sequel While Macaulay Culkin Made A Fortune
After Home Alone was released in 1990, the movie became a monster hit to the surprise of everyone. Thanks to how successful Home Alone was, the movie's star, Macaulay Culkin, became one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Of course, by the early 1990s, Joe Pesci was also a superstar thanks to movies like Raging Bull, Lethal Weapon 2, Goodfellas, and My Cousin Vinny.
Thanks to Culkin and Pesci's vaunted place in Hollywood, they were offered a lot of money to star in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. However, as a May 2024 Daily Mail article which cited his memoir revealed, Daniel Stern had to fight to get the pay raise he knew he deserved.
In Stern's book, he revealed Culkin was being paid $5 million for Home Alone 2, and he would receive 5% of the movie's profits. Stern went on to explain in his memoir that Pesci was paid between $2 million and $3 million with him also getting a percentage of the profits.
How successful were Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, according to The Numbers?
Home Alone's Production Budget: | $15,000,000 |
Home Alone's Worldwide Box Office: | $476,680,641 |
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York's Production Budget: | $20,000,000 |
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York's Worldwide Box Office: | $358,994,850 |
How Much More Did Home Alone Make At The Box Office Than Home Alone 2: Lost in New York: | $117,685,791 |
Despite those impressive figures, 20th Century Fox only offered Stern $600,000 to return for Home Alone's sequel. Stern's memoir revealed that would have been twice the money that he was paid to star in Home Alone.
It is also worth noting that if he'd accepted the first deal, Stern wouldn't have gotten any of the profits Home Alone 2: Lost in New York made. Worse yet, Stern revealed that the studio waited six months to even offer him that much money.
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In Stern's book, he describes asking the studio about how much money Pesci was being paid. "I asked if that was the same as Joe [Pesci] was getting, and they said it was not."
After the studio confirmed how much more his co-stars would be making, Stern decided to demand more. However, Stern says his agent told him to take the studio's first offer. In response to that advise, Stern decided to fire his agent and explained his reasoning in his book.
In his book, Stern admitted that asking for more money was the "prideful thing to do". Still, he concluded that if his agent wanted to take the first offer, "then he wasn't very good at his job".
After Stern demanded a pay raise for Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. the studio offered him a substantial amount more. Fox's second offer gave Stern a $200,000 raise, which meant he would have been paid $800,000.
Still, that wasn't good enough for Stern because of what he knew about Pesci's salary. In his memoir, Stern revealed that he decided that he had to get at least half of what Pesci was being paid.
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Since Stern had fired his agent, he had to represent himself when he turned down the studio's second offer. Instead of accepting $800,000, Stern demanded $1.5 million from Fox and two percent of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York's profits.
During the early 1990s, Daniel Stern starred in two sequels to popular comedy movies. In addition to Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Stern also headlined City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold.
Of course, turning down $800,000 would take a lot of courage and demanding $1.5 million was a really big deal too.
Fortunately, Stern had something going for him. He believed Fox needed him to make Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. However, Stern admits in his memoir that he was worried about missing out on making the deal.
"I knew they couldn't do the movie without me, but I was also insecure, since I almost blew it the first time,' he said about how he almost blundered his casting in the first film. I didn't want to be too greedy when I loved the movie and the part so much."
Fortunately for Stern, he revealed in his book that Fox eventually agreed to pay him the $1.5 million he demanded. The studio also agreed to give him 1% of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York's profits instead of the 2% he asked for.
The Cast Of Home Alone's Net Worth
When Home Alone was released in 1990, the movie starred several memorable names. Those stars were Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Catherine O'Hara, and John Candy.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, all of Home Alone's stars went on to become millionaires as of May 2024. In the case of the Home Alone stars who've sadly passed away, the outlet reports that their estates were worth millions.
Given that he is Home Alone's most legendary star, it makes sense that Joe Pesci reportedly is the cast's richest member. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Pesci had a $50 million fortune as of May 2024.
Even though Daniel Stern was underpaid for the Home Alone series, he reportedly is the second-richest star of the original movie. Stern's fortune is worth $20 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
The next two stars on the list are Macaulay Culkin and Home Alone's star that only appears in a handful of scenes, John Candy. Culkin is reportedly worth $18 million and Candy's estate is valued at $15 million.
At the bottom of the list are Home Alone's two stars who played a couple in the movies, Catherine O'Hara and John Heard. Celebrity Net Worth reports that O'Hara has a $10 million fortune and Heard's estate is worth 3.5 million.
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