Back To The Future co-creator Bob Gale explains why a 4th film won’t happen

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The BACK TO THE FUTURE franchises is probably one of the most sacred franchises put to film. The fanbase vast and opinionated and some people even think, at least the original film, is one of the most perfect movies ever made. Even the sequels, which could be argued have varying degrees of quality, have their fans that sing the praises of the second and third films. Throughout the years' people have wondered why haven't we gotten another sequel or why hasn't this franchise been remade since Hollywood tends to enjoy making everything old new again.  In an interview with Collider, the franchise's writer Bob Gale explained why we haven't gotten another installment to the popular franchise and I just have to respect the guy for sticking to his guns and being completely blunt on this one.

"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."

The BACK TO THE FUTURE sequel or reboots talks have seemed to be more internet chatter rather than genuine desires from the primary people involved. When the deepfake video was done that put Tom Holland and Robert Downey Jr. in the place of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd in the iconic roles of Marty and Doc, some thought it looked cool and that there could be potential there but even then I would say the vocal majority was against anyone else taking on those roles other than the original duo. Bob Gale goes on to explain that he would rather maintain the integrity of the original trilogy rather than trying to make a profit off a sequel or reboot:

"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 moneygrab. 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.'"

Gale feels very strongly about not selling out when it comes to BACK TO THE FUTURE and who could blame him! The franchise is fine the way it is and if we need to dabble in some nostalgia we can watch the film on Netflix or Blu-Ray or get the Ultimate Trilogy 4K Blu-ray that was just released yesterday. There is no need to rehash all of this just to make a quick buck. BTW, just in case anyone thought they could go over Gale and make a new film or reboot without his consent, that won't be happening:

"We have an understanding with 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."

I think that puts the nail in that coffin and I have to say it's nice to see an IP like this that won't be remade or given the sequel treatment so Universal Pictures can fund other future projects. Let this trilogy be as good as it is on its own terms without needing to continue a story that doesn't need to be told.

Do YOU think BACK TO THE FUTURE needs a sequel?