The movie started as scheduled.
Contrary to the filming crew's expectation, there was no castle, no revolving word, no glaring W and B, and the Statue of Liberty wasn't there. For Fox and the snowy mountains, there was also no trace of them at all.
Even some other established studio signs from smaller companies weren't what kicked everything off.
What started things was just a shoddy white and bold font against a dark background that spelled out Creed Films.
It serves as a placeholder as the Creed duo hadn't worked out the details yet. It also serves to supplement their story as a company that started because they were talked into doing it.
The masses would eat up their lucky story and no one would be the wiser except them of course.
Compared to the substandard logo, the content that followed was the genuine Home Alone movie.
The 300,000 dollar movie that was of the same if not better version of the 18-million-dollar original.
Alexander had already watched the original version and this version, so he didn't have much enthusiasm as his peers.
All that was different from this version from his perspective was the non-blonde and handsomer Kevin, which is himself.
The same could not be said for the cast and crew, though. They were seeing the perfected and edited version of their hard work for the first time.
At first, they thought they can brag to their friends when the videotape is distributed. Now, they can brag through a screen that is a hundred times bigger than their TVs.
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Kevin McAllister is the underappreciated and somewhat bullied youth in the McAllister family.
Fed up by his family's antics, he wished that they'd disappear from his life.
In a matter of freak coincidences with two different vans, a lot of children, and an overslept Kevin, the young 8-year-old became home alone.
His boy antics against the rules of the house and Buzz's stuff would bring out chuckles from adults and children who could see it.
Having your house to yourself is a subject of envy for any children who are sick of strictness.
Shopping as a kid at a convenience store and playing with dad's shaving cream hits close to fiction but a novelty in reality.
When the Wet Bandits target the McAllister household, it was up to the young boy to defend his home.
Every kid would then realize the consequence of unrestrained freedom and miss the comfort of their strict parents.
Although Kevin was missing his family as well, he stood up to his responsibilities as the man of the house.
Masterfully tricking and trapping the comical thieves with ingenious objects that make one wonder.
Ultimately, a thief prevails against all odds but the misunderstood Old Man Marley helped at the last minute.
Kate and the McAllister eventually come back home and the final scene paralleled the lives of Kevin and Marley.
They both felt happy in the comfort of their families and rid goodbye to the coldness and illusion of loneliness.
The entire movie is all in all cheerful and fun which appeals to the whimsy of children.
The credits rolled and instead of the boringness that moviegoers feel about this part, the crew cherished the background music and tried finding their names on the long list.
When the projector turned pitch black, everyone in their little gathering stood up and applauded themselves for a job well done.
They already knew the secrets during the production but the finished product was another reveal they unpacked.
The crew laughed along and were moved by the progression of the scenes. It was hard to imagine that they would be shedding tears at the darkness of the theater when it was all over.
Eventually, they parted ways with light steps and cherish the accomplishment in their memory.
Sullivan and Alexander were also quicker on their step because they didn't want to pay for the celebration party that everyone was clamoring for.
After all, money was scarce for them at the moment. For those investing in movies, the raking of profits would be further down the months. Sometimes it even reaches years before one could see a semblance of a check.
If you are one of the unlucky ones like some gullible foreign investor, then no money would return to you at all.
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The crew's reaction was just an isolated incident on one cinema screen.
When taking into account the other 999 Home Alone screens that are scattered all throughout the country, the results are far more outstanding.
November 16 is Wednesday. An unfavorable debut for any movie to be in. Weekdays were a calm period for cinemas compared to the craziness of holidays and weekends.
Home Alone had no trace of propaganda and advertisement and all, so the few people that stumbled into the showings are even fewer than normal.
The theaters that were persuaded into playing Home Alone were ready to pull the plug but when the attendance was visibly increasing, they decided to wait and investigate further.
This steady increase in attendance and investigation ensued. Child's Play and all the previous week's releases gradually lost audiences and those audiences sought new titles.
It so happens that only two new movies were on the week's market. 'Distant Voices, Still Lives' was too obscure in the cinema chains that the much wider scoped 'Home Alone' was the only choice.
They entered not expecting much from a movie whose poster is a handsome kid gasping comically.
They watched, laughed, and marveled at the talent of the kid, the foolishness of the thieves, and the originality of the concept.
They exited answering the questions of survey volunteers and went home with the memory of the movie.
The holiday season was just around the corner and the Christmas and family spirit that 'Home Alone' embodied was the perfect fit.
They eventually went to work and on with their lives but people asking for good holiday recommendations would always come up.
They would inadvertently mention Home Alone and those that were drawn by their recommendation would go over the same process.
The Internet still wasn't a thing but Home Alone was already gaining momentum as a viral topic among households.
