Chris Columbus (filmmaker)

**Chris Joseph Columbus** (born September 10, 1958) is an American movie director, producer and screenwriter. His most successful movies are _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_, _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_, _Mrs. Doubtfire_, and _Home Alone_.

## Early life

Columbus was born in Spangler, Pennsylvania and raised in Youngstown, Ohio. He is the son of Mary Irene (née Puskar) and Alex Michael Columbus. Columbus is of Italian and Czech descent. He graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio and from New York University's movie school at the Tisch School of the Arts.

## Career

Columbus worked as a screenwriter with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Productions, working on _Gremlins_ (1984), _The Goonies_ (1985) and _Young Sherlock Holmes_ (1985). He wrote the first episodes of the animated series _Galaxy High_ (1986) and later made his directorial debut with the teen comedy _Adventures in Babysitting_ (1987) and _Heartbreak Hotel_ (1988).

His directorial work includes _Home Alone_ (1990), _Only the Lonely_ (1991), _Home Alone 2: Lost in New York_ (1992), _Mrs. Doubtfire_ (1993), _Nine Months_ (1995), _Stepmom_ (1998), _Bicentennial Man_ (1999), _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_ (2001), _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_ (2002), _Rent_ (2005), _I Love You Beth Cooper_ (2009) and _Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief_ (2010).

Columbus founded his production company named 1492 Pictures in 1995, intended as a play to Columbus's more famous namesake, Christopher Columbus.

### Success and criticism

The character types preferred by Columbus are the everyday American men, women and children who struggle to uphold family traditions against a changing, sometimes intimidating (scary) society. In 1993 he said: "I can understand the validity of showing people the ugliness of the world, but I also think there is a place for films to leave people with a sense of hope. If your movie isn't going to do that, I just don't think it's worth making."

## Personal life

Columbus married Monica Devereux in 1983, with whom he had four children: Eleanor, Violet, Brendan, and Isabella. Columbus lives in San Francisco's Pacific Heights, where his children attend or previously attended Saint Ignatius College Preparatory. He donated money to the school for a new building, which is named after him.

Columbus's daughter Eleanor appeared as the character Susan Bones in the two Potter movies he directed, making her one of only two Americans cast as students, along with cousin Robert Ayres (Boy in Study Hall #2 in his second _Harry Potter_ movie). She also appeared as an infant in _Home Alone_ with her grandmother and had a small cameo along with her father in _Home Alone 2: Lost in New York_.

Two of his other children, Violet and Brendan, appeared in unnamed cameo roles in _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_. Chris and his son also have an uncredited cameo in _Rent_.

Violet Columbus also appeared in _I Love You, Beth Cooper_, singing "Forget Me" at the very beginning of graduation and the entire movie itself.

His wife Monica Devereux made a small appearance in _Home Alone_ as the red-headed flight attendant, and in _Home Alone 2: Lost in New York_ as the Plaza telephone operator.

His father-in-law appeared in _Home Alone_ as a Chicago policeman who checks the McAllisters' home to see if Kevin is there.

## Filmography

|style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Year|style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Title|style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Writer|style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Producer|style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Director|style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Gross (US$)|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="2"|1984|_Reckless_|align="center"|✓|||align="right"|$8 million||||
|_Gremlins_|align="center"|✓|||align="right"|$153 million||||||
|rowspan="2"|1985|_The Goonies_|align="center"|✓|||align="right"|$61 million||||
|_Young Sherlock Holmes_|align="center"|✓|||align="right"|$20 million||||||
|1987|_Adventures in Babysitting_|||align="center"|✓|align="right"|$34 million|||||
|1988|_Heartbreak Hotel_|align="center"|✓||align="center"|✓|align="right"|$6 million||||
|1990|_Home Alone_|||align="center"|✓|align="right"|$286 million|||||
|1991|_Only the Lonely_|align="center"|✓||align="center"|✓|align="right"|$22 million||||
|1992|_Home Alone 2: Lost in New York_|||align="center"|✓|align="right"|$174 million|||||
|1993|_Mrs. Doubtfire_|||align="center"|✓|align="right"|$219 million|||||
|1995|_Nine Months_|align="center"|✓|align="center"|✓|align="center"|✓|align="right"|$70 million|||
|1996|_Jingle All The Way_||align="center"|✓||align="right"|$61 million|||||
|1998|_Stepmom_||align="center"|✓|align="center"|✓|align="right"|$91 million||||
|1999|_Bicentennial Man_||align="center"|✓|align="center"|✓|align="right"|$58 million||||
|2001|_Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_||align="center"|✓|align="center"|✓|align="right"|$318 million||||
|2002|_Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_||align="center"|✓|align="center"|✓|align="right"|$262 million||||
|rowspan="2"|2004|_Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_||align="center"|✓||align="right"|$250 million||||
|_Christmas with the Kranks_|align="center"|✓|align="center"|✓||align="right"|$74 million|||||
|rowspan="2"|2005|_Fantastic Four_||align="center"|✓||align="right"|$155 million||||
|_Rent_||align="center"|✓|align="center"|✓|align="right"|$29 million|||||
|2006|_Night at the Museum_||align="center"|✓||align="right"|$251 million|||||
|2007|_Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer_||align="center"|✓||align="right"|$132 million|||||
|rowspan="2"|2009|_Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian_||align="center"|✓||align="right"|$177 million||||
|_I Love You, Beth Cooper_||align="center"|✓|align="center"|✓|align="right"|$15 million|||||
|rowspan="2"|2010|_Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief_|||align="center"|✓|align="right"|$86 million||||
|_The Last Campaign_||align="center"|✓|align="center"|✓|align="right"||||||
|rowspan="6"|2011|_The Help_||align="center"|✓||align="right"|||||
|_Will Sebastian_||align="center"|✓||align="right"|||||||
|_Welcome to Hoxford_||align="center"|✓||align="right"|||||||
|_The Graveyard Book_||align="center"|✓||align="right"|||||||
|_Ripley's Believe It or Not!_|||align="center"|✓|align="right"|||||||
|_Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom_|align="center"|✓|align="center"|✓||align="right"||||||
|2013|_Killer Pizza_||align="center"|✓||align="right"||||||

## Related pages

- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (movie)
- Harry Potter

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Chris Columbus
- **image**: Chris Columbus.jpg
- **caption**: Columbus at New York Comic Con
- **birth name**: Chris Joseph Columbus
- **birth place**: Spangler, Pennsylvania, U.S.
- **nationality**: American people,  American
- **education**: John F. Kennedy High School (Warren, Ohio), John F. Kennedy High School
- **alma mater**: New York University
- **occupation**: Filmmaker
- **years active**: 1984–present
- **notable works**: _Advenutures in Babysitting_, _Home Alone_, _Home Alone 2: Lost in New York_, _Only the Lonely (film), Only the Lonely_, _Mrs. Doubtfire_, _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_, _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_, _The Help (film), The Help_, _Pixels (2015 film), Pixels_
- **spouse**: Monica Devereux (m. 1983)
- **children**: 4