Best known for directing the two-part Home Alone series, Chris Columbus studied at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University after which he went on to work as a screenwriter with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. During his association with Amblin Entertainment, Columbus worked on the scripts of movies such as Gremlins (1984), The Goonies (1985) and Young Sherlock Holmes (1985).

Making his directorial debut, Columbus was a part of the 1987 American comedy Adventures in Babysitting. He then went on to direct popular movies such as Only the Lonely, Mrs. Doubtfire, Nine Months, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and Pixels.

Meanwhile, in 1995, Columbus founded his own production house calling in 1492 Pictures and under the banner, he has produced movies such as Night at the Museum, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, The Help, The Young Messiah, and I Kill Giants many others.