Christmas Movie Remake Odds: Home Alone, It’s a Wonderful Life & More

• It’s only a matter of time before Hollywood remakes one of your favorite Christmas classics
• Will Ryan Reynolds’ raunchy Home Alone remake see the light of day?
• Will moviegoers ever get to watch Tom Stoppard’s highbrow version of A Christmas Carol? 

In Hollywood anything that can be done, will be done, and then it will be done over, and over, and over again. Moviegoers were reminded of that in November when The Grinch rolled out in theatres worldwide. Produced by Illumination and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, the film was a remake of the live-action movie from 2000, which was a reboot of the television special from 1966, which was based upon the book from 1957 about a grumpy Grinch who plots to ruin Christmas.

The Grinch may have been Hollywood’s latest attempt to revive a Christmas classic, but it surely won’t be the last. We’ve put together a list of four more festive films and have set the odds on whether they’ll be remade in the next three years.

Home Alone

For years Hollywood bigwigs have tried to figure out how to reboot Home Alone, the 1990 comedy about an eight-year-old troublemaker tasked with defending his house. Turns out they should have just asked Ryan Reynolds.

If you’re having a bad day we just want you to know Ryan Reynolds is making a marijuana themed remake of Home Alone. It’s going to be called Stoned Alone, everything’s going to be okay. pic.twitter.com/DiDexYhdBs

— Hold My Blunt (@HoldMyBluntt) December 3, 2018

The wisecracking Deadpool star has taken matters into his own hands and has signed on to produce Stoned Alone, an R-rated comedy about a lazy pothead whose home is besieged by thieves over Christmas. The film is currently in early development and is scheduled to hit theatres nationwide in December, 2020 to coincide with Home Alone’s 20th anniversary.

Odds to be released in the next three years: 1/4 (80%)

A Christmas Carol

Few films of any genre have been remade more than A Christmas Carol, which has had 19 different feature-length iterations over the years. It could have a 20th as early as 2020 thanks to a promising new collaboration between Moneyball director Bennett Miller and Oscar-winning screenwriter Tom Stoppard.

Bennett Miller and Tom Stoppard are working on a new adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’: https://t.co/Dsv0JHyajh pic.twitter.com/YvFp6LGH9A

— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) March 3, 2016

The pair first announced they were teaming up in March, 2016, but updates on the project have been few and far between since. Are they just holding their cards close to their chest or is their version of A Christmas Carol as dead as Jacob Marley himself?

Odds to be released in the next three years: 2/3 (60%)

It’s a Wonderful Life

Originally released in 1946, It’s a Wonderful Life was given a second – and third – life in 1977 and 2013. The heartwarming family film appeared primed for another go-around in 2010 when Star Partners and Hummingbird Productions announced they were working on a sequel entitled It’s a Wonderful Life: The Rest of the Story. Their version of the movie focuses on George Bailey’s troubled grandson, and follows his personal transformation after he’s visited by a well-meaning angel.

The film was supposed to shoot in Louisiana in 2014 but suffered from a series of false starts and now appears to be in limbo. The project hasn’t been abandoned just yet, but it might need a little Heavenly intervention to make it to the big screen some time soon.

Odds to be released in the next three years: 40/1 (2.44%)

A Christmas Story

You’re not alone if you think A Christmas Story remake is a natural. Executives at Fox thought so too, and turned the classic Yuletide tale into a live three-hour musical back in 2017. The production had a lot of things going for it, including a solid score and a cast featuring SNL vets Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, and Ana Gasteyer.

Unfortunately critics thought it was more naughty than nice. The New York Times labelled it a “letdown” and USA Today called it “tonally dissonant and a little dull.” It has since been saddled with a 4.3 rating on IMDB. That’s not quite the same as two lumps of coal in your stocking, but it’s awfully close.

Given its abject failure, you’re more likely to see reindeer fly than to see another remake of A Christmas Story anytime soon.

Odds to be released in the next three years: 50/1 (1.96%)

Keen for odds on other Christmas remakes? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook or Twitter and we’ll crunch the numbers for you.