Crazy theories are internet gold, and it sounds like James Wan agrees. Wan is on top of the world right now with Aquaman, but his directorial debut was Saw. He co-created the story for that horror film, which is why it's interesting to now hear his take on that Home Alone theory.
Do you know it? It's crazy. But like most viral theories, if explained well enough ... you can kinda see it. In essence, the theory posits that Macaulay Culkin's young Home Alone character, Kevin McCallister, grew up to become Jigsaw, aka John Kramer, from the Saw horror movies. After the theory was first shared in 2014, it quickly went viral. But somehow this is the first time James Wan has weighed in:
It's amazing. I should've known all along that Macaulay Culkin would grow up to be John Kramer. I think it's awesome. I'm very flattered that people take the time to have fun with all these fan theories. I think that's why I make these movies. I want the fans out there to have fun with them.
So James Wan just laughed off the theory to HuffPost. He's not really confirming or denying anything, so dreams of a Home Alone/Saw spinoff can live on.
The theory was first posted by Jason Concepcion of Grantland, who really went point-by-point and added photo evidence to make his case. There are some similarities -- the shared interest in basements, the shared use of crude traps, the blond hair/blue eyes and similar facial structure between Kevin and John:
Here's part of Jason Concepcion's original argument:
Let us consider Kevin's metal-mouthed furnace monster hallucination. I contend that this obviously scarring childhood fear would play an influential role in his later work as Jigsaw, and that he would use a similar looking device to torture Amanda in Saw. In Saw II, Kevin/Jigsaw re-creates his childhood basement right down to the furnace monster. Jigsaw places the antidote to a poison inside the furnace, luring his victim inside. When the victim grabs the antidote, the furnace door shuts, and the victim is burned alive. It's notable, I think, that most of Kevin's home-defense devices are triggered by the victim, just as Jigsaw's traps are. And from the very beginning, Kevin/Jigsaw has been using fire to dispatch victims.
Once you really go down the rabbit hole, it starts to make a warped kind of sense.
It's still a wacky case, but I can imagine juries that would give him the win. The Kevin/Jigsaw theory found its way to Macaulay Culkin, who briefly referenced it on The Tonight Show, while discussing the many Home Alone theories and death hoaxes he's heard about over the years.
James Wan only directed the first Saw film, but stuck around as executive producer for the others. He stayed in the horror genre with Insidious, The Conjuring, and sequels for both. Then he segued out of the genre into action with Furious 7. Now he's currently enjoying the status of top-grossing DCEU movie director. It's not clear what he'll direct next, although WB/DC would surely want him back for the inevitable Aquaman 2.
Meanwhile, Macaulay Culkin still seems to get a kick out of Home Alone, and even recently made a joking apology to burglars everywhere. But he's not sorry. He enjoyed that torture. It's in his blood now. It all makes sense. Anyway, check out cinema's latest offerings on the big screen in our 2019 release guide.
