Daniel Stern starred as one half of the Wet Bandits, Marv, in both Home Alone and its sequel
One of the main faces in the Home Alone universe revealed he inserted a special clause in to his contract that saw him pocket millions after the sequel was released.
Daniel Stern starred as Marv Murchins, one half of the Wet Bandits, alongside his partner in crime Harry Lyme (Joe Pesci) in Home Alone and it’s sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
Trying to steal everything and anything from the McCallister household when they head to Paris to celebrate festivities, the criminal duo didn’t expect mum and dad to leave behind eight-year-old Kevin, played by none other than Macaulay Culkin.
What comes next is one of the most iconic plots in cinematic history, as Kevin does his best to boobytrap his family home from Marv and Harry.
Stern, now 67, revealed he almost didn’t take the part in the initial Home Alone film, which was released in 1990.
This was after filming was upped from six weeks to eight, but the $300,000 (£236,000) on offer to him remained the same. After leaving the film, producers called him back after not liking his replacement.
After this, he described backing out of the movie as ‘one of the stupidest decisions in my show business life’.
The Wet Bandits with Kevin in Home Alone 2 (20th Century Fox)
Fast forward to Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and despite knowing his luck in not saying no to the initial film, Stern also knew his worth had increased, with Home Alone making $500 million (£393 million) worldwide in theatres.
And he wasn’t happy with the $600,000 (£472,000) he was offered after realising Pesci was earning up to $3 million (£2.36 million).
His stance saw him depart from his agent, who had suggest he take an improved $800,000.
Instead, Stern demanded $1.5 million alongside two percent of the gross profits of the sequel.
Daniel Stern wanted more than he was offered (Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
“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.
“I didn’t want to be too greedy when I loved the movie and the part so much.”
Stern secured his $1.5m but the studio compromised on the percentage of profits, lowering this to one percent rather than the two.
But given how much Home Alone 2 made at the box office, Stern was still laughing all the way to the bank with his one percent.
A classic scene (20th Century Fox)
During its cinematic run, the sequel grossed $359,000,000 (£282,000,000) worldwide.
With his one percent put to that, Stern took an extra $3.59 million.
In 2024 money, with inflation factored in, that’s about $8.07 million. Arguably the Wet Bandits’ biggest and most successful heist to date; you can understand why they didn’t need to return for a third film.
