Back to the Future is enjoying its 40th anniversary in 2025. To celebrate this classic sci-fi adventure, cinemas across the world have been re-showing the film in select theaters. Four decades later, the love is still strong for this unique and innovative masterpiece.
While the most diehard of movie fans may be aware of the behind the scenes tales and quirky easter eggs of Back to the Future, there are always new nuggets of information being released. That’s the beauty of a classic movie – people keep talking about it. That includes cast and crew, adoring critics, and investigative cinephiles. So, let’s revisit this iconic movie and go deep behind the scenes.
Back to the Future: The Lost Version
Did you know that there is a whole other iteration of Back to the Future? Today, it’s impossible to imagine anyone but Michael J. Fox as the energetic time-travelling teenager Marty McFly, but he wasn’t the first choice. Eric Stoltz was. While he may be considered a talented thespian today, Stoltz had his abilities questioned early in his career.
After five weeks of filming the movie, Stoltz was replaced by Fox after director Robert Zemeckis felt his performance was too serious and lacking the comedic flair needed. Reportedly, Stoltz was operating under a method actor approach, leading to a much more dramatic vibe. While Stoltz’s version of Back to the Future has never been fully released, clips have surfaced online, and it is speculated that he is seen in brief shots of the final movie.
Spaceman from Pluto
Many of the elements of Back to the Future that made it so remarkable nearly didn’t come to fruition. Thankfully, executive producer Steven Spielberg had enough clout from the success of films like Jaws and E.T. to push back on, frankly, ridiculous demands. A prime example of this is the movie’s name, which producer Sidney Sheinberg wanted to go with Spaceman from Pluto.
Of course, Robert Zemeckis and screenwriter Bob Gale were not at all keen on this given that the film has no correlation with Pluto whatsoever. In fact, he only part of the movie that would have helped the title make sense was deleted. Thankfully, Spielberg stepped in with a rather cutthroat response in a letter, writing: “Hi Sid, thanks for your most humorous memo, we all got a big laugh out of it, keep ’em coming.”
Presidential Approval
Action and sci-fi aside, Back to the Future also cracks a lot of jokes. However, one quip reportedly had the production team a little bit nervous. At the time of filming, Ronald Reagan was the President of the United States. But in the year 1955, where Marty travels back to, Reagan was known as an actor. The joke was simple – some disbelief about an actor ever managing to become President. However, producers reportedly double-checked with the White House that this would be okay. Turns out, Raegan loved it. In fact, when he watched the movie for the first time, he asked the projectionist to rewind the scene. And then, he even quoted its famous line, “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads,” in his 1986 State of the Union address.
A Cameo You May Have Missed
One of the film’s cleverest inside jokes involves Huey Lewis himself. The famed pop star makes a brief appearance as the battle-of-the-bands judge who rejects Marty’s audition, declaring the music “too darn loud.” The irony? Lewis composed the film’s iconic soundtrack. When approached about creating a title track, Lewis balked at writing a song literally called “Back to the Future,” worried it would sound too gimmicky. His solution became one of cinema’s most beloved anthems: “The Power of Love.” The meta-humor of having Lewis reject his own musical style in the film adds another layer to this time-traveling masterpiece.
Easter Eggs and Predictions
Eagle-eyed viewers will dig the film’s layered historical ironies. Hill Valley High School was actually filmed at Whittier High School in California – the real-life alma mater of Richard Nixon. This connection becomes even more intriguing when you spot the newspaper headlines in the alternate 1985 timeline from Back to the Future Part II, where “Nixon to Seek Fifth Term” appears alongside promises to end the Vietnam War by 1985. This showcases the scope and franchise potential both Zemeckis and Gale had in mind when penning the first movie. But the filmmakers’ playful speculation didn’t stop there.
The 2015 newspaper glimpsed in Part II contains fascinatingly optimistic predictions: “Queen Diana” still reigning, a female president in office, and a cure for cancer finally achieved. When it comes to easter eggs outside of historical nods, here’s one not many people know. The film playing at the Essex Theater in 1955 is Cattle Queen of Montana (1954), starring George ‘Buck’ Flower – who also plays Red, the town bum, in Back to the Future. Interestingly, this character originally had no name. When Marty crashes into the theater in 1985, he yells “Red!” to the sleeping bum on the bench – this was improvised by Michael J. Fox during filming. Many fans speculated this was Red Thomas, the mayor from 1955, though Bob Gale later clarified it was just an improvised name with no connection.
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