We Don't Need Roads: The Making of the Back to the Future Trilogy (15 page)

The director describes his reluctance as being “stuck by Sophie’s Choice,” the ultimate no-win situation. Either Universal would find a way to move forward with the project without the Bobs, potentially not doing justice to their original vision, or the duo would sign back on, and risk alienating their biggest fans. “Audiences have a love-hate relationship with sequels,” Zemeckis says. “What do you really want? You want the same movie, but different. ‘But wait a minute, not too different, because then it’ll piss me off.’ Everyone in the world who loves your movie has an opinion, and you can’t win as a filmmaker. You can’t please everybody with a sequel.”

Besides the fear that audiences wouldn’t accept a
Future
follow-up, Bob Z believed that sequels were the antithesis of films. The interest was flattering and exciting, and they understood the desire to make another
Future
film from a commercial sense, but for Zemeckis, it was further proof that, for movie studios, making a sequel was not about art, but about the bottom line. “The only reason why we make sequels in Hollywood is because it’s the only sure thing that anyone knows about in the movie business—that you can open a sequel to a successful movie,” he says. “That’s the only reason.” Further complicating their decision, the Bobs didn’t have a story in mind for another
Future
installment and, in fact, had committed to other projects—Gale signed on to a film adaptation of Marvel Comics’
Dr. Strange
, which ended up stalling in development, while Zemeckis was in preproduction on the highly demanding
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
for Walt Disney Studios’ Touchstone Pictures, a gig he was offered once Steven Spielberg and the rest of the Amblin Trio signed on as coproducers of that project.

But even with the director’s doubts, there were realities both he and his partner had to deal with. Even if Universal made half as much money on a sequel, it would still be a huge hit. Sheinberg would give them carte blanche on creative decisions. After all, who could know more about how to make a
Future
film successful than the two people, along with Steven Spielberg and the rest of the production team, who had caught lightning in a bottle the first time around? Perhaps it would be selling out, but they knew that selling out and making a bad film were not mutually exclusive. What if they shocked everyone by not only doing a sequel, but also one that was pretty damned impressive in its own right?

“At first there’s always the question: Is it going to be as
good?” Dean Cundey says. “Is there the kind of material in the original film that lends itself to a sequel without it just being a repetition? I think that
Back to the Future
was such a great complete story that you have to say to yourself, ‘Well, I wonder if we can do anything new and different and take the story further down the path.’ At the end of the film, when Marty is challenged to get involved again because there’s something personal—a problem with his kids—a sequel lent itself immediately to being a logical extension of the story. We certainly felt that the potential was there, based on the fact that the story could be continued.”

“We all were optimistic about the sequel because the first movie left you with so many places to go,” Frank Marshall says. “Whereas
E.T.
didn’t. We never thought about a sequel for
E.T.
With
Raiders of the Lost Ark
, we actually committed to three movies at the start.
Back to the Future
kind of fell in the middle. We were open to it. As long as you don’t make the same movie over, then I think you’re okay. You don’t want to make a sequel just because you can.”

The Bobs agreed to spearhead a second installment if Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd returned. If the stars declined, the creators were willing to walk away, leaving Universal to move forward on producing a follow-up without their involvement. Their decision wasn’t simply an issue of loyalty or stubbornness, but one of what they perceived to be necessity.
Back to the Future
’s ending, with the two protagonists and Jennifer taking to the sky in Doc’s time machine, was designed to be a tongue-in-cheek, here-we-go-again moment for our hero, who, having spent the length of the movie trying to solve a problem between his parents in the past, now had to go into the future to fix a problem for the next generation of McFlys. The Bobs conceived the ending as homage to a familiar cliché. Adventure films
typically conclude with the hero heading toward his or her next journey—the cowboy rides off into the sunset toward a destination unknown, the superhero races on to the next mission.
Future
was no different.

As they began flirting with the idea of continuing Marty and Doc’s story, the Bobs knew it would be impossible to meet the expectations of the fans without the leads on board. During the summer of 1985, Michael J. Fox’s face was inescapable on television sets, in movie theaters, and on magazine covers around the world. The actor had concurrent cinematic hits with
Back to the Future
and
Teen Wolf
, which was aided in large part by a promotional campaign that reminded the public that
Teen Wolf
also starred the actor from that time-travel movie everyone was buzzing about. Fox continued to print money for the advertisers of
Family Ties
, which took over the runner-up spot in the Nielsen ratings in its 1985–1986 season, surpassed only by
The Cosby Show
, and he signed on to star in
Light of Day
, a drama directed by Paul Schrader, and
The Secret to My Success
, Herbert Ross’s comedy, which would go on to be another hit for Universal. If he didn’t return, it was unanimously thought that fans would join him in sitting out the next installment. Happily, when he was approached about a sequel to
Future
, the actor readily agreed to sign on. Christopher Lloyd, who had moved on to appear in featured roles in a number of films, including
Clue
and Zemeckis’s
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
, was also on board. Both actors enjoyed their time working with Zemeckis and, in a way, felt they owed him for infusing a jolt of electricity into their careers. With Fox and Lloyd willing to continue telling Marty and Doc’s story, Zemeckis and Gale were confident that a suitable narrative could be concocted that would be satisfying to the fans, studio, and, perhaps most important, themselves.

Sid Sheinberg took to the phones and brokered a deal with the two leads. Thinking ahead, the studio head included a clause in each of their contracts that the actors would appear in a third installment in the series, just in case, even though none was planned at that moment. With the actors in agreement to the terms, preproduction unofficially began on the sequel. When Universal released
Back to the Future
on VHS and Beta on May 22, 1986, a new title card appeared in that familiar red and yellow italicized font before the end credits began: “
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
”

“I don’t recall who came up with the idea, but we were absolutely on board with it,” Bob Gale says. “I know we approved the typeface and placement of it. It’s possible I was involved in how it was going to work creatively. And similarly, we were the ones who had it removed for the 2002 DVD release, because we wanted the DVD to represent the movie as it was seen theatrically. I still get people swearing to me that they remember seeing ‘To Be Continued’ in the theater back in 1985.”

The writing process began immediately on
Number Two
, the first working title for the sequel, and was more challenging than the Bobs had anticipated. The expectations of the public weighed heavily on the screenwriting process, long before the first word of
Number
Two
was written. Although
Future
was initially considered to be a strong launchpad for a second chapter, the ending proved to be too cute by half, and inadvertently dictated the parameters for the beginning of Marty and Doc’s next adventure. Zemeckis and Gale felt the best sequels in terms of storytelling were a direct continuation of the first film’s narrative and character development, but knew that, generally speaking, those were bigger financial risks, as audiences were more accustomed to serials.

“The most successful sequels are the ones where the lead
character never changes and never has character growth, like James Bond or Indiana Jones, or all these comic book things,” Zemeckis says. “They just go on different adventures, and the most fun part of those movies is always the villain. Batman fights a different villain, but Batman is always the same guy. Those work because the main character is not different when the movie ends, so the next movie just picks up because there’s a new problem. You can’t make a sequel to
Forrest Gump
, for example, because he’s changed by the end of the film. You can’t undo him.”

Before they drafted the script, the Bobs wanted to find out who else from
Future
would be interested in coming back. Bob Z had taken a number of his crew members along with him to work on
Roger Rabbit
, which made the pitch easy when he asked for them to return to the Universal backlot. Among the cast, the first telephone call went to Lea Thompson. She wanted in. Tom Wilson? Absolutely. Crispin Glover? Well, every
Titanic
hits its iceberg sooner or later.

Exactly what transpired between the actor and the film’s producers during negotiations remains a mystery. Each party has their own version of the events that they have held on to tightly for the past three decades. According to Glover, the Bobs were unwilling to negotiate fairly with his agent because they were angry with him over a dustup filming the first movie. When he was offered the role in
Future
, the actor hadn’t received the entire script, but instead only a treatment and a copy of the scene he had auditioned with. Based on the strength of the writing he had seen, he signed on. The actor claims that the film’s ending was rewritten several times throughout production and that when the final pages arrived shortly before they would have to be shot, the actor read the movie’s denouement, where Marty returns to 1985 and his family’s life has improved financially, and logged a complaint.

The sequence in question remains a source of disagreement between the Bobs. Zemeckis feels the scene is very much of its time, a resolution that was appropriate for the Generation X viewing audience. According to the director, overseas audiences were critical of the film’s seemingly materialistic moral during the film’s initial run. For the most part, American audiences found little wrong with the ending, although some journalists in the States did critique the conclusion as being overly idealistic. Zemeckis has suggested that if the film were made today, the ending would likely be different. Bob Gale, however, disagrees. “I have no problem with, nor apologies for, the scene,” he says. “The scene shows the result of George McFly being a successful and confident person. This is reflected in how the characters behave and interact with one another, and in the physical environment of the home, all as a contrast to the family scenes in the early part of the film. The home furnishings and décor show that George is doing better financially, because when people do better financially, they usually try to provide a better life for their family. We also see this in the fact that Dave no longer works at Burger King, Linda is a social butterfly, and Lorraine is happy, in better shape, and no longer drinks and smokes. Yes, George has a BMW. It’s a contrast to the beat-up car he has at the beginning and again shows that he’s better off financially.”

Glover addressed his concern with the film’s ending in an extremely unorthodox way. “Crispin had a real problem with his wardrobe in that scene,” Gale continues. “He wanted George to be bohemian and look like an eccentric college professor. In fact, if you look at the film, the author photo on the back cover of his novel shows how Crispin wanted the character to look. But the image didn’t tell the story. It could have easily been interpreted that George was still a nerd, and it would have required dialogue
to explain it. We wanted to get the point across visually, and the polo shirt, sunglasses, and tennis racket did all that. Crispin actually went around the set in the wardrobe he preferred and took a survey of the crew regarding it, but he got unanimous thumbs down. My recollection is that Neil Canton read him the riot act to get him to behave and do what Bob Z wanted. It was a challenge to get him to just behave like a normal, together guy.”

On another occasion, when reshooting a scene in George McFly’s backyard that was originally done during the Stoltz era, the actor was either unable or unwilling to stay within the parameters of the frame. For take after take, Glover delivered his lines while making broad movements with his legs, sauntering in and out of the shot. In order to get the shot, a brief hiatus was called and the grips quickly constructed a barrier made of plywood in order to box him in. “It was just about dealing with him, the craziness of the world of Crispin, and trying to contain that into a day’s work,” Neil Canton adds. “He was kind of a wild man. He wasn’t the consummate professional. It was sort of like, how do we deal with that?”

By all accounts, Crispin Glover was an incredibly polarizing figure on the set. Those who worked behind the scenes found him to be annoying and quirky in the worst way, while his compatriots in front of the camera thought he exuberated a creative brilliance and healthy eccentricity. In reality, it appears the actor was a mixture of both—an odd duck who was uniquely suited for the offbeat sensibilities of the role he was cast to bring to life. “I’ve always loved to say that the character of George McFly is Crispin, but that he’s the
controlled
version of Crispin,” Clyde E. Bryan says. “He’s not as wacky as the real Crispin. Crispin was cute and funny to us, but he was just so much extra work.”

“Crispin was a real interesting worker,” Marc McClure says.
“Very focused on what to do in a scene, and he pretty much stuck to it. So anytime he would do a take, he wouldn’t veer too far away from his very first time. He would just keep giving you very good, very unique stuff.”