Forty years on from its release, we look at the story behind Back to the Future…
Back to the Future is a movie that captured the hearts and minds of viewers the world over with its unique blend of humor, action and adventure coupled with inventive storytelling and memorable performances. All in all, Back to the Future is the very definition of iconic, and as this landmark of American cinema celebrates its 40th anniversary we take this opportunity to look back at what went on behind-the-scenes during the making of the movie and much more. So, strap on your belts and enjoy the ride…
Script development was a painstakingly long affair
Following the release of their comedy Used Cars in 1980, Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis wanted to develop a movie featuring time travel. Gale got the idea during a visit to his parents where he came across his father’s high school yearbook and wondered if he and his dad attended high school together, would they have been friends. Gale unfortunately didn’t think so but wanted to test out this theory in the next story he was going to craft. The young writer shared his idea with Zemeckis and stimulated by the notion his partner presented, the pair pitched their idea to Columbia Pictures president Frank Price, who was keen on working with the duo after enjoying Used Cars. Gale and Zemeckis completed their first draft on February 21, 1981, but Price wasn’t too happy with the script and advised that it required significant refinement. A few months down the line Gale and Zemeckis submitted the second draft of their script, but Price was still unsure if it was an IP worth pursuing and therefore, didn’t give the go-ahead needed for the project to proceed.
The script was rejected 44 times before getting greenlit
Although 1941, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Used Cars received favorable reviews neither of them were financially successful. Because of this Gale and Zemeckis were desperate for a project that would achieve that and they were more than convinced that Back to the Future would accomplish that. However, when the project failed to be green-lit it was put on turnaround, offering other studios the opportunity to purchase their idea. Movie studios were cautious about investing money in the IP because previous time travel flicks such as The Final Countdown and Time Bandits turned out to be commercial failures, while Walt Disney wasn’t too keen on producing Back to the Future because they thought that the protagonist fighting off the advances of his own mother were too risqué for their brand.
As a result Gale and Zemeckis’ script was rejected a mind-blowing 44 times by various studios and the pair invariably began to develop a reputation for writing “scripts that everyone thought were great but somehow didn’t translate into movies people wanted to see”. The only supporter they had in the industry was Spielberg, whom Zemeckis had gotten to know straight out of film school. But Gale and Zemeckis were worried that he too would eventually lose faith in them. It was in this trying period that fate intervened in the form of Michael Douglas when the influential actor cum producer approached Zemeckis to direct his next starring vehicle – Romancing the Stone. The gamble paid off and the financial success of the action-adventure reversed the fortunes of Gale and Zemeckis, who finally got their project green-lit at Universal Pictures.
The movie nearly ended up losing its original “Back to the Future” title
That’s right, you read that correctly. The movie nearly ended up losing its original title thanks to a suggestion made by Universal Pictures head Sid Sheinberg. Whilst it was Sheinberg’s creative inputs that influenced the change of Professor Brown to Doc Brown and the name of Marty’s mother from Meg to Lorraine, had Spielberg & co. agreed to Sheinberg’s suggestion the name of the movie would have been “Space Man from Pluto”, to tie in with the Marty-as-an-alien jokes featured in the film. Thankfully, Spielberg intervened by persuading Sheinberg to change his mind and keep the original title.
Michael J. Fox was always first choice for the role of Marty McFly
When one thinks of Marty McFly there’s no other actor that we could possibly think of who’d be more perfect in the role than Michael J. Fox. And such was the case for the producers of Back to the Future, who couldn’t think of anyone else in the role other than Fox. However, there was one major spanner in the works and that was the commitment Fox had with the popular TV sitcom Family Ties. Since his co-star Meredith Baxter was pregnant at the time, the show’s producers relied a lot on Fox to keep things rolling and this proved to be a problem for the production of Back to the Future.
Zemeckis and Gale then cast Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly but after four weeks of filming which amounted to nearly 40 minutes of footage Stoltz was let go from his contract as the producers felt that he wasn’t right for the part. The cast and crew members too were happy with this decision as they all felt that Stoltz took the role way too seriously. Eventually things worked out with Baxter’s return and Fox was allowed to take time from his Family Ties schedule to go film his scenes for Marty McFly.
Tom Wilson improvised some of the most memorable one-liners
Tom Wilson’s Biff Tannen is the main antagonist of Back to the Future. The breakthrough role of the actor, Wilson invariably returned in the sequels Back to the Future II and Back to the Future III, reprising his iconic role as Biff and as Biff’s great grandson Griff Tannen and great grandfather Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen. Starting his life as a stand-up-comedian in the late 1970s Wilson played supporting roles in the small screen before landing the gig of a lifetime playing Marty McFly’s nemesis. Wilson drew from his personal experiences of being bullied when crafting the persona of Biff Tannen for the movie and even improvised some of his character’s iconic catchphrases like “make like a tree and get Outta here” and “butthead”. The actor’s short time rehearsing with Eric Stoltz was also quite an unpleasant one as he almost had his collarbone broken in the scene where Marty and Biff are about to fight in the cafeteria. Take after take, Stoltz apparently roughed up Wilson for real, despite requests to scale down the aggression. Wilson was ready to respond in kind during another scene but Stoltz luckily was fired before that altercation transpired.
Crispin Glover was very nervous filming his scenes for the movie
Throughout his career Crispin Glover has always been skilled at portraying eccentric character roles and like his co-star Tom Wilson, Glover too got his big break with Back to the Future. In the film Glover played the perpetually nervous George McFly, father of Marty, and as he had previously not played lead roles in films he’s acted he was very nervous during filming. At times the situation was so bad that he had to mouth his lines on camera, with his voice being dubbed during post-production. But the young actor’s genuine sense of nervousness and insecurity served as a blessing in disguise during shooting as it added an extra layer of believability to the character.
Christopher Lloyd based his performance on a physicist and a music conductor
Christopher Lloyd got his first starring role playing a mental patient on the award-winning One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Since then the talented actor has gone on to play multiple roles in different genres spanning from the likes of Star Trek III, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Dennis the Menace and The Addams Family. But it was his performance as the eccentric inventor Professor Emmett “Doc” Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy that people will always remember him for. In order to best capture the eccentric nature of Doc Brown in a realistic fashion Lloyd based his mannerisms and behavior on a combination of real-life historical figures – the physicist Albert Einstein and British music conductor Leopold Stokowski of Disney’s Fantasia fame. Even Doc Brown’s pronunciation of gigawatts as “jigawatts” is attributed to a physicist with whom Zemeckis and Gale met to research the concepts of time travel.
The DeLorean was chosen due to its futuristic car design
The DeLorean Motor Company for founded by John DeLorean, an automotive industry executive, in the year 1975. The company was responsible for producing just one model – the stainless steel sportscar featuring gull-wing doors – during its short-lived history. But that one model went on to become one of the most iconic cars in the history of cinema. The DeLorean was chosen by the producers due to its comparatively sleek and futuristic design and the gull-wing doors could certainly be mistaken for a vehicle of alien origin in the context of the film’s narrative as well. During a 2010 DVD and Blu-ray interview Michael J. Fox revealed that the interior of the DeLorean was so tight and uncomfortable due to all the added props that every time he had to shift gears and drive the convertible, he’d either hit his forearm on the handle that flips on the time-travel circuits or rap his knuckles against the time display board installed up front. Shortly after the film’s release Gale and Zemeckis received a letter of appreciation from John DeLorean himself, who thanked the duo for immortalizing his beloved car.
Positive test screenings & a rushed post-production
In mid-May 1985, a rough cut of the film was assembled for test screenings at multiple locations in California. These screenings received an overwhelming response from audiences where 94% of the audience responded that they’d recommend the flick with 99% rating it very good or excellent. The movie was recut and screened again for studio execs shortly after, including Sheinberg. The chap was so blown away by what he saw that he, unfortunately for Gale and Zemeckis, moved up the previously scheduled release date to July 3, 1985, to capitalize on the summer theater going experience. This of course led to a very rushed post-production period with just nine insane weeks for crafting the film’s visual effects and editing brush ups.
Box-office success, rave reviews, multiple sequels, and an enduring legacy
Made on a modest production budget of $19 million, Back to the Future went on to make a whopping $388.8 million at the worldwide box office. It became the highest grossing film of 1985 beating out the likes of Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rocky IV and The Color Purple. The movie received rave reviews when it debuted with many film critics praising its focus on genuine storytelling instead of purely relying on spectacle to sell the movie. In his review Roger Ebert said that the effort offered a great amalgamation of charm, humor and humanity coupled with some other surprises that were amongst its “greatest pleasures”. At the 58th Academy Awards received four nominations in the categories of Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Song, Best Sound and Best Sound Editing, winning the golden nudie for Best Sound Editing. The film received further accolades at the Golden Globe Awards and the BAFTAs as well.
Gale and Zemeckis didn’t have any sequels in mind when they penned Back to the Future, but neither of them would have ever expected things would have worked out so well either. And so, when Universal pressured that they were willing to go ahead without the pair, they gave in and penned a sequel script that ended up being so lengthy that it had to be split into two films, Back to the Future II (1989) and Back to the Future III (1990), which were shot back-to-back to minimize production costs. Neither film achieved the level of success the original attained but there’s no denying that the sequels have offered their share of enjoyable moments and then some.
In the modern day the movie has been reappraised and celebrated as a landmark of American cinema and overall one of the greatest action-adventure flicks ever conceived. Because of this the effort has gone on to be featured in multiple ‘Best Of’ lists compiled by trade publications and film critics alike. An enduring pop culture touchstone, Back to the Future didn’t just have a tremendous impact on those who saw it but also on its cast and members such as Michael J. Fox, Tom Wilson, Christopher Lloyd and Robert Zemeckis who have gone on to become household names.
In a time and age where popular IPs are constantly being exploited by the Hollywood machinery for a quick buck, it is indeed comforting to know that neither Gale nor Zemeckis would bequeath the rights to the movie and its sequels in their lifetime, maintaining that no reboot or remake would ever take place as long as they draw breath.
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Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
