Robert Zemeckis on 'Back to the Future' Remake: 'Oh God, No'

The director of the 1985 classic says he will stop all efforts to remake the film while he and writer Bob Gale are alive.

By Abid Rahman

Hollywood’s current obsession with remakes won’t include Back to the Future, says director Robert Zemeckis, at least not while he’s alive – and if he has his way, not when he’s dead either.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Zemeckis, who directed all three films in the iconic time-travel franchise, said “Oh God, no” at the possibility of a remake or a Jurassic World-type continuation, adding that it “can’t happen until both Bob [Gale] and I are dead.” Gale was co-writer on all three films.

The Oscar-winning director lamented that after he died, Hollywood probably would seek to remake Back to the Future, but to reiterate his opposition he hoped there would be someway of stopping it: “And then [when I’m dead] I’m sure they’ll do it, unless there’s a way our estates can stop it.”

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Zemeckis told the Telegraph that his and Gale’s original contracts with Universal and Steven Spielberg’s production company Amblin Entertainment outlined how the two would have final say on any future Back to the Future or related films for as long as both were alive.

The Polar Express director outlined his reasons for why he was so dead set against a remake, saying: “I mean, to me, that’s outrageous. Especially since it’s a good movie. It’s like saying, ‘Let’s remake Citizen Kane. Who are we going to get to play Kane?’ What folly, what insanity is that? Why would anyone do that?”

Gale has echoed Zemeckis’ views in the past, saying there will be no Back to the Future IV without Michael J. Fox, who has largely retired from acting due to Parkinson’s disease.

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