So if remaking the Back to the Future movies would be considered as ‘prostitution’ by creators Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, would endorsing a musical of the same movie be considered ‘casual pimping’? One has to admit that Gale’s words were pretty clear when it came to the idea of another movie being made out of the 80s classic and there wasn’t a lot of stuttering going on. But apparently a musical is just fine because…well, reasons. Apparently the musical will be showing at the Manchester Opera House in England for a 12-week run before finally concluding in the middle of May, but thus far there hasn’t been a lot of chatter about Gale’s adamant stance on not making another production of the movie but going ahead to OK a musical along with Zemeckis. Maybe I’m just making too big a thing of this but the hypocrisy is kind of amusing really. Jeremy Dick of MovieWeb and many others are likely going to gloss over Gale’s words as much as possible in the hope that the musical will be a balm to the idea of never seeing another Back to the Future movie, but when all is said and done it’s enough to laugh at what Gale has already stated and how quickly he slid back on his own words, no matter how anyone might want to spin this.
It might sound as though I’m doing the same but in truth there’s only a slim window through which the Back to the Future movies would really fit if they were to be turned into a reboot and while Gale has certainly slammed that window shut, as it appeared with his condemnation of the act, it could have been done with Tom Holland and Robert Downey Jr. without any trouble whatsoever. The chemistry between the two is perfect, the age difference is perfect, and the manner in which Deepfake decided to make it stick in the minds of the fans was downright genius. It’s definitely great to see that so many people care about this movie and want to keep it preserved as much as possible, which is why if it can’t happen in that manner then it probably shouldn’t at all, meaning AT ALL. But musicals are a trend at this point as well, they have been for a while in fact, and it was likely just a matter of time before Back to the Future took to the stage and tried to wow the audience in another way.
As a movie and eventually a trilogy that amazed and entertained a large number of people, Back to the Future is a legend among movies and the immortal Doc Brown and Marty McFly are a pair that were destined for greatness without ever knowing it back in the day. At this time the actors that made the roles so great, Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, aren’t in any position to come back since both have gotten quite a bit older and Fox has been enduring his bout with Parkinson’s for a long while and despite pushing forward he still can’t help but shake now and then as the disease is one that gets progressively worse with age. There’d be no way to make the movie with both of them at this time and even asking would be a horrendous breach of etiquette since they’ve both earned their right to rest and be content with what they’ve done. Whether they would endorse the idea of someone taking their roles is hard to say since Gale’s voice has been the most outspoken thus far about the matter, but it’s hard to think that anyone would really speak out against a musical unless it turned out to have such awful reviews that it was an easy and available target. Thus far no one is really saying anything bad about the musical and in fact have called it entertaining and exciting, so no matter what is said it’s enough to think that being a success is good reason to cut it a lot of slack. Gale on the other hand is another matter. If people enjoy the musical then so be it and best of luck to the production, but perhaps Bob need a tape recorder on hand next time he wants to condemn one idea while happily going on to help produce and push another. Ian Youngs of BBC has more to say on this subject.
The best anyone can do is say ‘oh well’, shrug their shoulders, and remind themselves that a lot of people in show business tend to say one thing and then trip over their own words on their way to do another, or so it appears at times. We might not get another movie out of Back to the Future, but hopefully people will enjoy the show.
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