The Beautifully Simple Reason You’ll Never See Back To The Future 4
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Everything comes back around, sometimes a couple of times if we’re talking about lack of Hollywood originality. We may get a Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure 3, this past summer saw yet another Godzilla reboot, and there’s reportedly a Knight Rider movie on the way, as well as another Jurassic Park film (both starring Chris Pratt, by the way) and Ghostbusters, among countless others. And while we do wind up liking some of these movies, and eagerly anticipate others, it’s nice to know that some things can and will be left alone. One of these rare instances is, apparently, Back to the Future, and we don’t have to worry about running into Back to the Future 4 anytime soon. Thank god.
Even though the third one was better than most movies, it’s still the weakest link in the trilogy, and people have been salivating over a new one ever since 1990. (Even at 13-years-old, and seeing the movie with a broken hand on opening night—I refused to go to the doctor until after I saw Back to the Future Part 3—I knew walking out of the theater, it was probably better to hope that this was the end.) Talking to Yahoo, Bob Gale, who co-wrote and co-produced each of the three Back to the Future movies, revealed why there will never be a BttF 4, and reason is beautiful in its simplicity.
He says:
Let’s face it, we’ve seen a lot of sequels that are made years and years later and I don’t think I can name one that’s any good, that lives up to the originals. I don’t think you can recapture it.
That’s the perfect explanation, the one you hope to hear: there won’t be another Back to the Future because it will suck. If only more of Hollywood thought this way. (Can someone please ring up the Ghostbusters folks? I’d rather see Paul Feig and the stellar cast he is sure to put together do just about anything besides this.)
This is such an unfortunately refreshing take. For so many of the reboots and rehashes it’s all about cashing in on name recognition and exploiting people’s nostalgia rather than making something that’s actually good. Studios are too often only interested in the bottom line instead of doing something interesting, or even just watchable.
But Gale’s not the only one on board this train. Director Robert Zemeckis has taken a similar stance, saying:
We’re not going to do Director’s Cuts or make a 3D version or change the special effects. People love them the way they are, we think they’re really good. Let’ s not mess with it.
So thank you, Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, for having some damn integrity. Now if only we could take the DeLorean back in time and stop Steven Spielberg from crapping out Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. (Shit, did I just write a treatment for Back to the Future 4?)
