Five main takeaways from the 'Home Alone' reboot trailer

Expect some nostalgia with an original cast cameo in 'Home Sweet Home Alone'

Trailers for 2021's batch of Christmas films are being released, and it's likely that Home Sweet Home Alone, a reboot of 1990's Home Alone, is going to be one of the biggest of the year.

The first trailer for it was released on Tuesday, so here's the low-down on family details, nostalgic cameos and accent confusion:

1. 'Home Sweet Home Alone' follows the 'Home Alone' blueprint

We all remember 1990's Home Alone – big family jets off to a far-flung destination for a Christmas holiday, but manages to leave one child behind. Said child is left to guard the home from two pesky robbers, which they do with a series of creative defensive pranks.

It's been joked about many a time that the premise wouldn't work in 2021, because you'd never get through increased airport security without noticing a missing child. And even if you did, mobile phones would solve the problem pretty quickly.

Well, writers have got around this quandary by splitting the family on to two separate flights and sending them on a long-haul journey from the US to Japan. The family leave in two different cars, which allows for one child, Max Mercer, to slip through the gaps early on. The transpacific journey, presumably, means ample time without a phone signal and for things to start going wrong at home.

Right on cue, the two baddies arrive and Max defends the house, Kevin McCallister-style, with traps trampolines, a gun shooting out snooker balls and slingshot bags of sugar.

2. The comedy cast is A+

Home Sweet Home Alone is stacked full of comedians, which hopefully means we're in for a laugh a minute.

Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Bridesmaids) and Rob Delaney (Catastrophe, Bombshell) star as Pam and Jeff, the robbers trying to break into the Mercer family home.

Jojo Rabbit's Archie Yates stars as Max Mercer, who is filling Kevin's shoes when he is left behind at home at Christmas. Kenan Thompson, Aisling Bea and Pete Holmes also appear.

3. There is no sign of Macaulay Culkin

It has been rumoured that Macaulay Culkin, who played Kevin McCallister in the first two Home Alone films, was going to make a cameo appearance in the reboot, but there is no sign of him in the trailer.

As the new trailer was released online, Culkin denied that he is going to appear in the film on Twitter, writing: "I am NOT in the new Home Alone reboot. I wish all involved the best of luck though."

However, Devin Ratray, who played Buzz McCallister in the original film, does feature in the trailer. We see Buzz as a policeman who comes to investigate an early report of "suspicious people" at the Mercer family home. So we can expect a dose of McCallister nostalgia.

4. Aisling Bea is English?

Actress and comedian Bea plays Carol, the Mercer family matriarch. Fans of Bea's or regular watchers of any British comedy panel show will know that she is Irish, but in Home Sweet Home Alone she has an English accent.

"To everybody who has been wondering online why I have an English accent in the new Home Alone movie, it's because the character's English," Bea says in a video posted to Instagram. She then proceeds to showcase her accent skills, with Scottish, Australian and Texan among her repertoire.

Bea joked: "It is also not a true-crime documentary about a mother who leaves her son alone to fend for himself because if it was, I would be in jail."

5. It's about a transatlantic family

It's been reported that the film is set in England, however, given that Buzz's character is in a US police uniform, the robbers are American and it's set in an all-American suburban cul-de-sac, it seems much more likely to be set stateside.

The Mercers are English, with Bea, Holmes and Yates all using English accents in the trailer.

Home Sweet Home Alone will be released on Disney+ on Friday, November 12