Getting Even With Dad Filmed at California’s Great America

Theme and amusement parks tend to be great backdrops for films – unfortunately, so many of them are well, lackluster.

This is one of them.

Shortly after the production wrapped up on “Beverly Hills Cop III,” then Paramount’s Great America took a second swing at being in the movies, with the Macaulay Culkin comedy, “Getting Even With Dad.”

At the time, Culkin was the hottest thing in Hollywood. His “Home Alone” series made him an instant sensation. Literally every studio was willing to pay big bucks to have him appear for them.

They probably should have thought about that a little bit harder…

Fun fact: “Fiddler’s Fling” at the park was renamed and rethemed to “Centrifuge” for the film – and the theme has stuck to this day.

Unfortunately, just like it’s counterpart filmed at the same park, “Beverly Hills Cop III,” this film was also a commercial bomb at the box office, losing nearly $12 million for MGM back in 1994 (That’s nearly $20 million today). On Rotten Tomatoes, it’s overall rating reflects that.

So the next time you ride Centrifuge, know you’re riding a piece of Hollywood – at least a small piece of it. Just don’t expect Macaulay Culkin to be riding next to you…