Born in Spangler, Pennsylvania, Columbus studied film at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking.

Columbus then moved to Los Angeles to work for Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, writing more scripts including The Goonies and Young Sherlock Holmes (both 1985).

[16] Subsequently, Columbus hired Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, and Catherine O'Hara as the principal cast.

[13] Starring John Candy, Maureen O'Hara, Ally Sheedy, and Anthony Quinn, the film depicts a Chicago policeman who must balance his loyalty between his mother and a shy funeral home employee, a loose adaptation of Marty.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York was released on November 20, 1992, to mixed reviews, but strong box office results, grossing $359 million worldwide.

[23] Janet Maslin for The New York Times wrote that "Home Alone 2 may be lazily conceived, but it is staged with a sense of occasion and a lot of holiday cheer.

[26] Roger Ebert calls Williams "a mercurial talent who loves to dart in and out of many different characters and voices", but thought Mrs. Doubtfire "has the values and depth of a sitcom".

A romantic comedy, Nine Months starred Hugh Grant, Julianne Moore, Tom Arnold, Joan Cusack, Jeff Goldblum, and Robin Williams.

Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan praises Roberts and Harris' performances despite the script having a "tiny handful of honest moments".

Based on the novel The Positronic Man, by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg, the film tells the story of a robot who becomes human-like and acquires emotions.

[36] Critical response to the film were mixed, with Ben Falk of the BBC describing it as "the worst kind of movie – one with no direction, no identity, and above all no heart".

[39] After reading J. K. Rowling's 1997 fantasy novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Columbus expressed a strong desire to direct the film adaptation.

[11] Columbus said the casting process was "very intense", but Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson were eventually picked for the lead roles.

[50] After returning to the United States in 2005, Columbus intended to produce a superhero film, Fantastic Four, but due to disagreements with director Tim Story, he was fired.

The film stars Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, a father who applies for a job at the American Museum of Natural History and subsequently discovers that the exhibits come to life at night.

[55] That same year, he directed I Love You, Beth Cooper, a comedy starring Hayden Panettiere and Paul Rust, based on a novel by Larry Doyle.

The film was released in July 2009 to negative reviews; Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote that Columbus "flattens every joke and sucks the life out of the actors", adding it is "super bad".

The film is the first installment in the Percy Jackson series and is based on fantasy Greek mythology: the 2005 novel The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.

Starring an ensemble led by Logan Lerman, the film received mixed reviews (and was panned by fans of the original series) but found box office success upon its release in February.

[58] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described it as "unadventurous and uninteresting" and criticized screenwriter Craig Titley for changing the original story.

[59] The Toronto Star's Linda Barnard praised Columbus' ability to "woo a young audience" but thought the film lacked Harry Potter charm.

As early as 2009, Variety magazine reported that Columbus, Michael Barnathan, and Mark Radcliffe were working on a film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel The Help.

The film and novel recount the story of a young white aspiring journalist, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, and her relationship with two black maids, Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson, during the Civil Rights Movement.

Starring Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad and Brian Cox, Pixels was met with mixed reviews but earned $244.9 million at the box office.

[75] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film one star out of four, calling it "a 3D metaphor for Hollywood's digital assault on our eyes and brains [...] relentless and exhausting".

Second, Tallulah, a comedy drama starring Elliot Page, Allison Janney, and Tammy Blanchard; the film is about a young woman who takes a baby from its negligent mother and pretends the child is her own.

[82] In 2018 it was announced that Columbus would serve as an executive producer for Scoob!, an animated adventure film featuring characters from the Scooby-Doo franchise;[83] it was released on May 15, 2020.

[87] On April 18, 2024, it was announced Columbus would direct a film adaptation of the Richard Osman novel The Thursday Murder Club for Amblin Partners.

[93] Burhan Wazir of The Guardian states that Columbus prefers characters that are the "everyday American men, women, and children who struggle to uphold family traditions against a changing, sometimes intimidating society".

"[2] Culture website The Take opined that Columbus excels in creating heartwarming family films with untrained child actors, but found box office success without an "incredibly distinct cinematic style" to his work.