July 3rd marks the 30th Anniversary of the release of Back To The Future. There have long been rumors of a fourth sequel or a remake, but according to director Robert Zemeckis, fans would have a better chance of installing a flux capacitor into a Prius and traveling back in time to the see the original with an unspoiled audience than seeing a reboot any time soon.
“That can’t happen until both Bob[Gale] and I are dead. And then I’m sure they’ll do it, unless there’s a way our estates can stop it,” Zemeckis tells The Telegraph. (Zemeckis and Gale wrote the original film; Zemeckis, of course, went on to direct, with Gale producing.) “I mean, to me, that’s outrageous. Especially since it’s a good movie. It’s like saying ‘Let’s remake Citizen Kane. Who are we going to get to play Kane?’ What folly, what insanity is that? Why would anyone do that?,” he adds.
Luckily for Hill Valley purists, Zemeckis and Gale—who came from Spielberg’s Amblin camp—were savvy (maybe not as savvy as George Lucas) with their contracts, which, according to the Telegraph, “accord the two men final say on the production of any Back To The Future-related films for as long as they live.” Presumably, Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer are currently doing mounds and mounds of coke off of a solid gold DeLorean concocting a plan to go back to 1984 and prevent that contract from ever being signed.
Gale has also stated that there will be no Back To The Future Part IV without Michael J. Fox—who has cut back on his acting due to his battle with Parkinson’s—so money-hungry producers looking for name recognition can make like a tree and get out of here. That’s the kind of quality control that Hollywood needs more of.