Robert Zemeckis has previously touched on the subject of a possible fourth Back to the Future movie, but in a new interview with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the legendary director appears to have given his final answer on why Back to the Future has not and will not be getting a remake or sequel.
Back to the Future is still regarded as one of the most iconic movie franchises of the 1980s, thanks in part to the brilliant on-screen chemistry of its stars Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. The story of Marty McFly, his eccentric scientist friend Doc Brown, and their adventures in the past, present and alternate future thanks to a time machine built into the body of a DeLorean, was one that played to the strengths of Zemekis and producer Steven Spielberg, and ended up cementing itself in pop culture forever as a result.
However, that kind of popularity is always accompanied by a constant question of when the next movie – or a reboot – will happen. While there have been suggestions that a fourth Back to the Future movie has been discussed, Zemekis believes there is a reason why the original trilogy works and should not be messed with. He said:
Well Bob [Gale] and I wrote one giant sequel, which we then split in half. So, the original movie that we wrote was going to be three hours long, and it was going to be what – if you put parts two and three together, that is what you get. So, it would have gone to the dark side and then it would have gone back to the wholesome side again. It was fun that we did three of them because it has a good trilogy energy. A three-act drama to it. We always felt that this was enough, and it had to just live with it being the three movies. And the musical is more a companion to the movie than a remake of the movie. It’s like a whole other thing. It’s a celebration of the movie.
Will There Be a Back to the Future Sequel or Remake?
Horowitz jokingly asked Zemekis how often Universal approach him about expanding the Back to the Future franchise beyond its current three movies. With a laugh, Zemekis revealed that those discussions do take place every now and then, but ultimately, makes it clear that there will be no further Back to the Future movies to come as far as he is concerned.
“Every six months…no. That’s an exaggeration. Yeah they say is there anything we can figure out to do here, and we have to say yeah there are different things that might work, but to remake the movie or suggest that there is a back to the future 4 it just isn’t in the cards.”
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10 Hidden Easter Eggs in the Back to the Future Movies
Let’s climb into the DeLorean, travel through all three Back to the Future films, and see what Easter eggs we can find.
While the original film is still regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time, the trilogy does tell a complete story in itself. While the subject of time travel lends itself to a constant stream of possibilities, it looks like Zemekis is very happy leaving things as they stand.
- Release Date
- July 3, 1985
- Runtime
- 116 minutes
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
- Budget
- $19 million
- Studio(s)
- Universal Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Universal Pictures