Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis has said he is interested in producing a film version of Back to the Future: The Musicalwhich is based on Zemeckis’ 1985 classic, Back to the future. The stage musical version of Back to the future premiered in London’s West End in 2021 and received rave reviews, receiving the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2022. The show moves to Broadway in August 2023, with a national touring production beginning in June 2024.
In an appearance on Happy Sad Confused podcast to promote your new film, HereZemeckis was asked if there was anything he wanted to tackle before retiring, like a genre he hadn’t worked in before or an actor he hadn’t worked with yet. The director responded saying he would like to produce Back to the Future: The Musical as a feature film, not unlike the filmed version of Mel Brooks’ Broadway production The Producers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. Here’s what he had to say about it:
I would like to do Back to the Future, the musical. Like this [Mel] Brooks made The Producers. I would love to do that. I think it would be great… I told the people at Universal about it. They don’t understand. So nothing I can do.
What a movie musical would mean for Back to the Future
Would continue to expand the franchise
It is widely known that a sequel or reboot suitable for Back to the future is not possible without permission from Zemeckis and co-writer/producer Bob Gale, who have stated they will never greenlight it. However, that didn’t stop them from developing the franchise. Back to the Future: The Musical It wasn’t the first time the films were expanded beyond the original trilogy.
Back to the Future: The Journey opened at Universal Studios in May 1991. The simulation ride’s riders engaged in a race through time in search of Biff Tannen, who stole the Delorean time machine. The tour featured appearances by Christopher Lloyd and Tom Wilson, reprising their roles from the films. Later that year I saw the Saturday morning cartoon, Back to the Future: The Animated Series, which continued the time traveling adventures of Marty, Doc and the Brown family. Developed by Gale, The animated series featured voice contributions from Mary Steenburgen and Wilson, and a weekly live-action appearance from Lloyd.
The series was further developed by Revealing Back to the Future: The Gamereleased in 2010. Taking place six months later Back to the Future, Part IIIThe game sees Marty traveling to 1931 to rescue Doc, enlisting the help of a reluctant teenage version of Doc to do so. The game features voiceovers from Lloyd, Wilson, the original Jennifer (Claudia Wells) and even a cameo from Michael J. Fox. Additionally, in 2015, IDW released the Back to the future comic book series, which was supervised and occasionally written by Gale.
Our Take on a Back to the Future Musical Film
It will probably never happen
Back to the Future: The Musical It opened to good reviews on Broadway and received two Tony nominations – one for Best Actor in a Musical for Roger Bart’s portrayal of Doc Brown and another for Best Scenic Design for a Musical. The musical also has a production in Tokyo, as well as a production on an upcoming Royal Caribbean cruise ship. However, any hopes of a film version of the musical were likely recently dashed with the announcement that the Broadway production will close in January 2025 due to low ticket sales.
Source: Happy Sad Confused