Back to the Future screenwriter Bob Gale has given a very frank answer to whether we’ll ever see a fourquel in the iconic franchise.
Gale penned all three Back to the Future movies alongside director Robert Zemeckis. At the Saturn Awards, he poured water over any hopes for more movies (via Collider).
“People always say when are you guys going to do Back to the Future 4?” Gale commented. “And we say fuck you.” If you were in any doubt, Gale is pretty firm on his answer, too. “And you can quote me on this,” he added.
Alongside the three movies, there is also a musical playing on Broadway and the West End. The musical adapts the first movie, retelling the classic story with the addition of original songs.
While Gale is clearly opposed to more, franchise star Christopher Lloyd has been more open to the idea of a fourquel in the past. “I would love to do a sequel, but I think [director] Bob Zemeckis and [producer Steven] Spielberg felt that they told the story in the three episodes,” he told Variety in 2023. “But if somebody has a brilliant idea that would justify a fourth film, it might happen.”
Michael J. Fox, though, was more ambivalent towards the idea of a reboot without the original cast. “I’m not fanatical,” he said. “Do what you want. It’s your movie. I got paid already.”
“I don’t think it needs to be,” he added. “I think Bob and Bob [Gale and Zemeckis] have been really smart about that. I don’t think it needs rebooting because are you going to clarify something? You’re going to find a better way to tell the story? I doubt it.”
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