It
was in December of 2018 when Robert Zemeckis came out against the
possibility of a reboot or sequel to the popular Back To The Future
trilogy. The reason for his statement this time was a fan poll. In it, they voted that the
franchise they would like to see brought back is Back To The Future.
It's
no surprise that he or Bob Gale would come out against a return to the franchise. Both have been saying for years now that there is nothing in
the works, despite many fans hoping to see a return. Aside from the fact
that they have said that the story has already been told, there are
other problems.
For
one thing, one of the biggest stars of the movies, Michael J Fox, is
simply not healthy enough to come back to star in a movie or series of
movies. Some have suggested that he wouldn't have to take a major role to hand things off to a Marty McFly Jr character, but Fox has basically
said he's not interested. However, he added that he wouldn't stand in the way of the franchise being brought back.
Fans
who have seen other reboots, such as Total Recall, Footloose and
Ghostbusters 2016, will cite the failures of many reboots as a reason to
leave Back To The Future alone. Others will say that it's inevitable
that this is going to happen. It seems that a clause in the contract
with the studio states that Gale and Zemeckis have the final say on
bringing the franchise back, and it won't happen as long as they are
alive. Basically, when either pass on, it's likely that the studio could
return to the franchise again.
I've
been one who has asked a legitimate question. Is Hollywood out of
ideas? With all of the reboots and endless cycle of copying successful movies, it seems like there's not much originality anymore. If somebody happens to come up with a successful idea, other studios fall all over
themselves trying to copy the idea. You would think with all of the technology and money at their disposal, they could do better.
Time
travel is one of the more popular concepts. One of the reasons for that
is many people wonder what would happen if they went back and redid
something in their lives. Perhaps they'd like to go back to a happier
time for themselves or witness a moment in history. Another time travel
franchise, Bill And Ted, returned for a third movie.
Personally,
I'm one of the people who would be in favor of a return to Back To The
Future. I believe if you worked around Michael J Fox's schedule, you
could put him in a position to hand things off to a younger McFly
character. Christopher Lloyd could do a similar role where he hands it
off to the sons of Doc Brown, Jules and Verne. Then, you go from there.
If this happened, I believe it could work. I am definitely not
in favor of a reboot that casts new actors in these iconic roles. It
just doesn't work for the fans who made these franchises famous with their support of the originals. They end up failing.
In
absence of that, there's no saying you couldn't return to a fun,
light-hearted nostalgia trip through time. Hot Tub Time Machine hit on
some good notes in the first movie, though some will say it was a little
bit crude and crass at times. I enjoyed those two movies, but in
Back To The Future, you're striving for something more wholesome.
If you
were to make something in the vein of Back To The Future, you'd want
the wholesomeness and nostalgia. One of the problems with reboots is the tendency to
try to make them hip with a new edge. It would certainly hurt Back To
The Future.
If
you were to follow the original intent of the first movie, going back
30 years, that means the character takes a trip to the 1990s. There's
lots of things to do in the 1990s. You would be going back to the early 1990s. Obviously, you'd
have to come up with a time travel vehicle that has some appeal to it.
You couldn't simply use the DeLorean. Do you use a car?
The
point is, all you have to really do is have a binge-watching session
of Back To The Future and other movies and take notes of the style. You're not trying to
make Back To The Future. You're simply trying to grab elements that
made it popular and put them into a new franchise. If somebody were
willing to sit down and write it, they could come up with something
catchy.
As
much of a fan of Back To The Future as I am, I think it's noble that
the writers don't want to go back and taint what was already created.
I'm not one of those people who believes that anything new ruins the
old. People had a fit when the second trilogy came out for Star Wars,
but it still didn't taint what was in the first trilogy. Those movies stand
on their own merits, just as Back To The Future does. However, there's
also something to be said for not going back for any amount of money.
Hollywood
really doesn't care about quality. I'm not saying there aren't some people
who create, who aren't insistent upon quality. What I am saying is
Hollywood is ruled by the almighty dollar. If they can get money out of
it, they do. Some would say that the purchase of Lucas Films by Disney
was all about the money. I have further seen it said that they don't
even care about quality. Just give us good special effects and flash and
the people will pay for it anyway.
The
other problem is the attempt to get woke, as some people would say.
They recast characters, making it about gender or sexual orientation or
race, not story. What ends up happening is fans rebel against the idea on the
grounds that this wasn't what they liked about that franchise.
Fans of the changes start calling them racist or misogynistic simply because they reject the
new, but that's not what's happening. People are just insistent upon a
franchise remaining true to what made it special to them in the first
place.
In
the end, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale simply want to stay true to what
made Back To The Future special. They don't want to risk that in the
quest for money. I think if they have a story that they feel really good about
telling, it might be different. However, I don't think they are interested
in writing it.
Perhaps we don't need to go back to this franchise.
Leave it where it is. Even if eventually Hollywood is going to grab this
franchise and go with it, it's not going to happen now. What might have
happened might have ended up being good, but based on the track record
of other franchise reboots lately, it may have been dreadful too.
