Though we will probably not be getting another “Back to the Future” anytime soon (please leave this one alone, Hollywood), actor Christopher Lloyd believes that the next installment should be about something “important,” like “climate change.”
According to Comicbook.com, the man who turned the character Doc Brown into a beloved icon of the 1980s said at a Niagara Falls Comic Con that a theoretical “Back to the Future Part IV” should convey an important message.
“I think somehow it needs to kind of convey a message about something that’s important to everyone, universally, like climate change. Some way of incorporating whatever fever is going on at the moment into the film and keep the feeling of one, two and three,” Lloyd said. “That’s a tricky, tricky deal. Because you don’t want to do another one and disappoint. So I don’t know. I’d be happy to, for myself. But we’ll see.”
Indeed, that would be a “tricky deal.” In fact, all three “Back to the Future” films were entirely apolitical and were strongest when focusing on more universal themes like making the most of the time that’s been given to you or respecting the course of history or (much to the chagrin of modern feminists) being an actual man that stands up for yourself instead of an effeminate pushover.
In the same talk, Lloyd said that his co-star Michael J. Fox was “very easy” to work with and that his battle with Parkinson’s disease has not curtailed his personality one bit.
“He was who he was, I was who I am, and there was never any awkward anything. We just knew how to be our characters with each other, and it was very comfortable,” Lloyd said. “He has a great sense of humor and intelligence.”
“His Parkinson’s, he has it, but it’s kind of, ‘So what?’ He just moves ahead. It’s very cool,” he continued. “A couple of months ago there was like a bunch of us, Back to the Future [cast], Tom Wilson and Lea Thompson … we had a panel with all of us, and Michael just goes forth and talks, breaks people up, so it’s very cool.”
So, will the “Back to the Future” franchise ever get the Hollywood reboot treatment? All signs say not likely, since co-creators Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis would have to be on board in order for Universal Pictures to greenlight such a film. Neither of them has expressed interest in returning to Hill Valley. More from Comicbook.com:
In 2015, when celebrating the 30th anniversary of his 1985 comedy, Zemeckis said Universal Pictures could only resurrect the franchise once both Bobs were dead. “And then I’m sure they’ll do it, unless there’s a way our estates can stop it,” he told The Telegraph.
Zemeckis extinguished calls for a fourth film again last summer when Lloyd’s willingness to reprise his role reinvigorated buzz around another sequel.
When reached for comment, Zemeckis stressed there will “never, ever be, in the most absolutely way, a Back to the Future 4. There will be no more Back to the Future.”
Should a fourth installment of the franchise ever come, the filmmakers would do well to steer clear of politics and focus on what made the originals such timeless classics. See “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” or the feminist “Ghostbusters” remake for examples in what not to do with a beloved franchise.