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‘Back to the Future’ director promises to leave well enough alone and never make another

Published Jan 2nd, 2019 7:37PM EST
Back to the Future
Image: Universal Pictures

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Remember that poll we told you about last month — the one where people said that out of all the existing movie franchises out there, Back to the Future is the one they’d most like to see a new movie from?

It was actually a fun exercise from the folks over at The Hollywood Reporter. Given that we’re living in something of a Golden Age when it comes to reboots of beloved franchises, the magazine wondered if fans had a preference as to what they’d most especially love to see rebooted.

According to the magazine, 71 percent of respondents to the THR/Morning Consult poll said they’d prefer to see a new Back to the Future story ahead of many other popular movie franchises. From the magazine’s piece about the findings: “Of the 2,201 adults surveyed between Nov. 8 and 11, 71 percent said that they’d be likely to watch another outing for Marty McFly and Doc Brown ahead of other franchises like Pixar’s Toy Story (69 percent), Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones (68 percent) and Universal’s Jurassic Park (67 percent).”

Bad news, though. Or, actually good news, depending on your point of view and if you think the franchise should be left alone. Director Robert Zemeckis says no dice — he’s not making any more movies about Marty and the Doc.

While doing press for his new disaster of a movie Welcome to Marwen, Zemeckis was asked specifically about this poll and whether he’s still opposed to revisiting the franchise. “Oh god, yes,” was his reply.

From his interview with Yahoo: “I think what the poll is saying… they asked a specific question, so I guess they felt it was important to spend money to poll the world, and ask this question, but don’t you think we could all have just given them the same answer. It confirms what we all know, but what I think the fans are really saying is that we really like this movie and if it were possible I’d like more of it. But they understand that it can’t be done.”

Maybe that kind of answer shouldn’t come as a surprise, when you think about it. The director who gave us a movie about time travel and playing around with the future warns us that he in no way wants to monkey around with an important event from the past.

Andy Meek Trending News Editor

Andy Meek is a reporter based in Memphis who has covered media, entertainment, and culture for over 20 years. His work has appeared in outlets including The Guardian, Forbes, and The Financial Times, and he’s written for BGR since 2015. Andy's coverage includes technology and entertainment, and he has a particular interest in all things streaming.

Over the years, he’s interviewed legendary figures in entertainment and tech that range from Stan Lee to John McAfee, Peter Thiel, and Reed Hastings.