Will There Be a Back to the Future 4?

There is no greater film trilogy than Back to the Future. Robert Zemeckis' sci-fi comedy masterpiece arrived in 1985, with two sequels that followed in 1989 and 1990. The films star Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, who play iconic duo Marty McFly and Doc Brown, and a supporting cast that includes Crispin Glover, Thomas F. Wilson, Elizabeth Shue, and Lea Thompson. The films' influence on pop culture cannot be understated - even beyond all the iconic characters and references, the fictitious inventions of the futuristic Back to the Future Part II set some ongoing real-world challenges.

If you aren't familiar, though, the trilogy revolves around time travel, with teenager Marty using a time-traveling DeLorean to journey from 1985 to 1955, where he accidentally gets in the way of his parents' first encounter, thus threatening his own existence. The sequel sees Doc, Marty, and his girlfriend Jennifer travel to the future world of 2015, where their actions inadvertently lead to an alternate '1985' reality. The third and final entry in the series sees Marty go all the way back to 1885 for a Wild West adventure, where he must save Doc from a duel with a local outlaw and also find a way back to the future.

While the amazing Michael J. Fox is now synonymous with the role of Marty McFly, it wasn't his from the get-go (although he was always the first choice). With Fox unavailable at the time, actor Eric Stoltz was cast as the time-traveling teenager, but a humorless portrayal forced the filmmakers to look for someone with more zest. And so Fox was cast as Stoltz's replacement, however, several reshoots were required which cost the film an additional $4 million and the delay of its initial release. But the rest is history - Back to the Future opened to a roaring success, impressing critics and cinemagoers alike.

Its two sequels, Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III, were also well received by audiences, and the trilogy as a whole is now viewed as one of the greatest in cinema history (while the likes of The Dark Knight and Planet of the Apes come very close). In the decades that have passed since the trilogy ended, Back to the Future has spawned comic books, animated shows, theme park attractions, video games, documentaries, and tons of movie merchandise. In 2020, it even got its own stage musical based on the original movie, which was also a huge hit.

But in a time where Hollywood doesn't know how to leave any movie franchise alone, is Back to the Future destined to lose its trilogy status? The general consensus from the fanbase is that a fourth movie is unwanted, with the trilogy being damn-near perfect as it is. Not only that, but given the state of sequels in general, let alone the feared 'long-awaited' sequel, the thought alone is rather nauseating. After all, no property is sacred - you only need to look at the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot to realize this. In other words, Back to the Future should be left well and truly alone. But is this the case? Let's find out.

Why is there no Back to the Future 4?

It's a question that's asked a lot by fans, even though they don't want one. Why is there no Back to the Future 4? Is it simply the case that Hollywood hasn't gotten round to it yet? This does happen - after all, we're only now getting the third entry in the Ghostbusters series with Ghostbusters: Afterlife. However, the answer might surprise you. Back to the Future co-writer Bob Gale has actually gone on record numerous times to address this. In an interview with Collider Podcast last year, here's what he had to say on the matter:

"We told a complete story with the trilogy. If we went back and made another one, we'd have Michael J. Fox, who will be sixty next year, and he has Parkinson's Disease. Do we want to see Marty McFly at age sixty with Parkinson's Disease? Did we want to see him at age fifty with Parkinson's Disease? I would say ‘No, you don't want to see that.' And you don't want to see Back to the Future without Michael J. Fox. People say, ‘Well, do it with somebody else.' Really? Who are you going to get? All you're gonna do is beg comparisons to the originals, and you're not going to match up."

He continued, saying, "And we've seen this repeatedly with sequels that go back to the well after many, many years, and they go ‘Ah, well, The Phantom Menace, maybe my life would have been better if I hadn't seen it.' There are a lot of extra sequels like that. We didn't want to be those guys who did a movie that was basically a money grab. Universal says to us, ‘You'd guys would make a whole lot of money,' but we're like, ‘Well, we've already made a whole lot of money with these movies, and we like them just the way they are. And as proud parents, we're not going to sell our kids into prostitution.'"

Will there be a Back to the Future 4?

It's been some time since Bob Gale last commented on the matter, but it's only a matter of time before he's asked again about whether there will be another Back to the Future sequel. However, his words seem pretty set in stone. In the interview with Collider Podcast, he explained in a couple of sentences that a fourth Back to the Future movie is actually forbidden. Here's what he said: "We have an understanding with Spielberg [Spielberg] and Amblin [Entertainment] that there would never be another Back to the Future movie without our blessing or being involved. So it's not going to happen."

But this isn't the first time the writer has gone on record to speak on the matter. He has also previously compared the idea of a fourth movie with Star Wars, saying, "We've already seen the Star Wars movies and Luke Skywalker is an old man. That can be a little bit painful, right?" Gale is of course referring to The Last Jedi, but while Mark Hamill's age wasn't a problem, the portrayal of his character was. While this has very little to do with a Back to the Future movie, what Gale is probably leaning towards is the general idea of seeing an old Marty McFly - it's just not what fans want to see, even if they think they do.

Michael J. Fox also suffers from Parkinson's Disease, which, as Gale states, would also prove a challenge for the actor. Fox was diagnosed with the life-changing disease in 1991. However, the talented actor has come in leaps and bounds over the decades with managing the illness and has even set up the Michael J. Fox Foundation to help others like him. While it's plain to see that he continues to struggle with his condition in interviews, there's no denying that his spirit is unbreakable, as is his desire to continue to fight the disease for himself and countless others.

Related: Will There Be Another Planet of the Apes Movie? 2021 Updates and Everything We Know So Far

Will there be a Back to the Future remake?

While we've ruled out a sequel, it's trickier to see how the land lies with a Back to the Future reboot. It's more than likely that the 'embargo' applies to a reboot too, however, such a film would be far less harmful than a sequel. The 2016 Ghostbusters reboot might have been a trainwreck, but it still isn't canon, which makes it all the easier to dispose of. We're not saying we'd like to see a Back to the Future reboot just so that we can toss it into the trash if it turns out to be terrible (which it probably would be) - we're just saying that, if it did happen, such a film is a lot easier to ignore.

Nevertheless, Gale's words seem final and likely apply to any follow-up to the original trilogy, whether it's a sequel, prequel, reboot, spin-off, or TV show. However, while we take much comfort in his words, there always remains the possibility of something. Either way, we're more than happy with the trilogy and everything else that has come since, like the comic books and the video games. Even the animated series which ran from 1991 - 1992 carries a certain charm. And let's not forget the short film, Doc Brown Saves the World, which was released as part of the original film's 35th anniversary in 2015.

As for the West End production, Back to the Future: The Musical, which was actually written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, it's based on the original movie and is in no way a reboot in any way, shape, or form - it's a stage adaptation and nothing more. Gale has even said that a musical was a way of giving something to the fans without creating another movie, which proves that there's still plenty of life - and worth (here's looking at you, Hollywood) - in the existing films, and for once, the money machine really needs to listen to fans.

So, it looks like there won't be a Back to the Future 4 - at least not in our lifetime! And if you thought otherwise, as Back to the Future Part III's Buford Tannen would say, "You thought wrong, dude."