Will audiences get to go back to the future again? Since the moment production wrapped
on the third film in the Back to the Future trilogy, director Robert Zemeckis and writer
Bob Gale have had to deal with fans asking if a fourth film would ever happen. Here's
their answer.
For a while, Doc Brown actor Christopher Lloyd sounded completely up for reprising his role
in a fourth Back to the Future. He mentioned during Niagara Falls Comic Con in June 2019
that he felt a possible sequel would best work if it did two things: addressed something
important in our current culture, and managed to maintain the feeling of the first three
films in the franchise.
"I think somehow it needs to kind of convey a message about something that's important
to everyone, universally, like climate change [...] and keep the feeling of 1, 2, and 3.That's
a tricky, tricky deal. Because you don't want to do another one and disappoint. So I don't
know. I'd be happy to, for myself. But we'll see."
He also praised Marty McFly actor Michael J. Fox, and noted that Fox's battle with Parkinson's
disease hasn't dampened his spirit.
However, Lloyd's hopeful tone changed by the end of 2019. In December of that year, at
German Comic Con Dortmund, the actor said definitively that a fourth Back to the Future
movie isn't happening though he still shared an idea he had for another visit to the Back
to the Future franchise: a crossover with the Adult Swim animated series Rick and Morty,
which originally evolved from an animated Back to the Future parody entitled The Real
Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti. Lloyd said,
"I think it's fabulous. I've watched [Rick and Morty], I love the humor in it, I love
the characters. I've had a fantasy that they make another Back to the Future [...] it's
not happening but if it did, Back to the Future 4 collides with Rick and Morty."
"Wubba lubba dub dub! Haha yeah."
"Guess you guys aren't ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it."
While Lloyd remained enthusiastic about a possible Back to the Future 4 throughout the
years, director Zemeckis has been firm from the beginning about such a project never happening.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, both Zemeckis and Bob Gale have it written in their
original contracts with Universal Pictures and Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment
that the two would have final say on any future Back to the Future films for as long as they're
both living. What Zemeckis and Gale say goes and Zemeckis has made it clear that another
Back to the Future isn't going to become a reality.
He told The Telegraph in 2015 when asked if he would ever sign over the rights for another
Back to the Future movie or remake,
"I mean, to me, that's outrageous. Especially since it's a good movie. It's like saying,
'Let's remake Citizen Kane. Who are we going to get to play Kane?' What folly, what insanity
is that? Why would anyone do that?"
Speaking with Italian outlet Bad Taste in July 2018, Zemeckis reiterated his position
in no uncertain terms,
"There will never ever be, in the most absolute way, a Back to the Future 4. There will be
no more Back to the Future."
Several months later, the filmmaker sat down for a conversation with Yahoo Movies UK, during
which the interviewer asked if he was still against making a fourth Back to the Future.
Zemeckis replied, quote "Oh god, yes."
They also asked Zemeckis for his opinion about Back to the Future topping a poll of films
that audiences want additional installments of. He shared,
"It confirms what we all know, but what I think the fans are really saying is that,
'We really like this movie, and if it were possible, I'd like more of it.' But they understand
that it can't be done."
Zemeckis also noted that Michael J. Fox quote "is not in the best of shape with his Parkinson's,"
and it wouldn't be right to make a movie with or without him. Zemeckis continued to say,
"The idea of making another Back to the Future movie without Michael J. Fox, you know, that's
like saying 'I'm going to cook you a steak dinner and I'm going to hold the beef.' You
can't do that."
The most recent development regarding a possible Back to the Future 4 came from Gale in February
2020 and it's just as bleak as Zemeckis' past remarks. Gale told the BBC,
"We already made a lot of money. You know, you don't sell your kids into prostitution.
It was the wrong thing to do. We put 'The End' at the end of part three. Plus, Michael
J. Fox isn't in the shape to do a movie, and nobody wants to see Marty McFly having Parkinson's
disease, and nobody wants to see another actor playing Marty McFly if it's supposed to be
a continuation."
Gale continued, explaining that he and Zemeckis would never want to tarnish the legacy of
the Back to the Future franchise or ruin anyone's memory of it by making another film. In order
to create more Back to the Future content without any negative consequences, Gale scripted
a Back to the Future musical instead.
"[...] studios have gone back to the well on some of their franchise properties too
many times, and the audiences are disappointed and say, 'Oh my God, they ruined my childhood.'
We don't want to ruin anybody's childhood, and doing a musical was the perfect way to
give the public more Back to the Future without messing up what has gone before."
Audiences will just have to be happy with the numerous non-film Back to the Future-related
projects that have come out in the years since the last film's release. There has been Back
to the Future: The Ride, a Back to the Future cartoon series, Back to the Future: The Game,
and a true comic book sequel series co-written by Gale. That might just be plenty without
having to go back to the future again for another sequel.
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