"[Chevy Chase] Was A Complete Jerk": National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Director Addresses Leaving Movie Over Fight With Star

The original director of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation addresses leaving the movie over a fight with Chevy Chase, calling him "a complete jerk." Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik, with a script written by John Hughes, the classic 1989 comedy and the third Vacation movie follows Clark Griswold's attempt to have a good-old-fashioned family Christmas, though his plans spiral hilariously out of control. Chevy Chase led Christmas Vacation's cast as Clark Griswold alongside Beverly D'Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, Randy Quaid, and many more.

During a recent interview with Empire Magazine, the original National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation director Chris Columbus addressed leaving the movie over a fight with Chevy Chase. The original director shot second-unit establishing shots for the movie, but after meeting with Chase, who "was a complete jerk," Columbus decided to leave the movie, even though he desperately needed the job. Soon after, John Hughes sent him the script for Home Alone, which became his breakthrough project. Read his full comments below:

John Hughes had the same agent as me, and sent me the script for Christmas Vacation. I thought it was very funny. I even shot some initial establishing second-unit shots for the movie - shots that are in the film now. And then I met with Chevy Chase. It's no surprise - you've heard this story a million times - but he was a complete jerk. And even though I was in a situation where I desperately needed a job, I decided that I had to bow out. Two weeks later, I got two scripts from John Hughes again. One was a script called "Reach The Rock," which I didn't respond to. And the other was Home Alone.

What Leaving Christmas Vacation Meant For Chris Columbus

He Went On To Direct Home Alone

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From his early days on Saturday Night Live to his last regular role on Community, Chevy Chase has commonly been accused of being difficult to work with, having clashed with someone on nearly every production he's worked on. In the case of Chris Columbus, his clash with Chevy Chase and his subsequent decision to bow out of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation ended up kickstarting his career. Though he would be replaced by Jeremiah S. Chechik, and Christmas Vacation went on to become a classic, John Hughes sent him the script for another Christmas comedy, Home Alone.

Related Where To Watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is a holiday classic, and it's important to know where to look to stream, rent, or buy it.

Home Alone ended up being a much bigger box office hit, grossing over $476 million on an $18 million budget, the second-highest-grossing film of 1990, and became Columbus' breakthrough. He returned to direct the sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and followed this success with another box office smash hit, Mrs. Doubtfire. While many of Chris Columbus' movies during the remainder of the 1990s were met with mixed results, Columbus found commercial acclaim once again for directing the first two Harry Potter movies, Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets, to much success.

Our Take On Chris Columbus Leaving Christmas Vacation

It Kickstarted His Career

Chris Columbus' clash with Chevy Chase and his subsequent decision to leave Christmas Vacation, which may have seemed like a setback at the time, ultimately benefited the director. Though his replacement, Jeremiah S. Chechik, directed a beloved Christmas movie, his name has largely been forgotten. Meanwhile, Columbus went on to direct Home Alone and many more box office hits, such as Mrs. Doubtfire and two Harry Potter movies. In hindsight, Columbus' clash with Chase and decision to leave National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation set the stage for a successful career.

Source: Empire Magazine