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Intimates who are involved in the upcoming 20th Century Fox bad boy/good boy thriller “The Good Son” were shocked when they picked up Entertainment Weekly’s “The Most Powerful People in Hollywood” issue. Kit Culkin’s name was not listed among the bad and the beautiful.

Well, maybe next year.

Culkin, father of “Home Alone’s” Macaulay Culkin, has developed a reputation, it seems, for playing hardball with his superstar son as his negotiating chip.

Culkin’s most recent ultimatum, according to several sources close to the now filming “The Good Son,” which stars Macaulay and Elijah Wood, was: no Quinn (Macaulay’s younger sister), no Macaulay.

And so Quinn is in. She plays the younger sister of her brother in Joseph Ruben’s film.

Fox’s official take is that Ruben cast Quinn on his own accord (several young unknown thespians auditioned for the part). But, according to sources close to the production, Ruben at first “resisted” the young actress, and the decision to cast her was made by Fox brass.

Some sources say Fox’s decision to cast Quinn was directly linked to “protecting the ‘Home Alone’ franchise.” The sequel to the original “Home Alone,” the most successful comedy of all-time, opened last weekend and racked up a stellar $31 million at the box office in its first three days.

“Those numbers speak for themselves,” says one person closely involved with “The Good Son.” “There’s definitely going to be a third one and no one wanted to offend anyone who could make it happen.”

Culkin’s tough negotiating stance is nothing new.

Around a year ago, “The Good Son” was ready to roll with Michael Lehmann (“Heathers”) directing. Kit Culkin, after reading the script, decided it would be a good vehicle for Macaulay. The part he wanted his son to play is a devilish one, a sort of “Bad Seed” creation.

But Lehmann felt Macaulay was all wrong for the role, and refused to cast him. Fox, with contract negotiations for “Home Alone 2” in the works, did not want to upset Kit Culkin, and so Lehmann left the project. Ruben entered the picture several months later and the script, according to several sources, “has been tailored very nicely to Macaulay.”