We live in a cinematic era where legacy-quels, i.e. sequels/follow-ups that come out a decade or more after their predecessor(s). Just look at Beetlejuice 2 being slated for September 2024 release, 36 years after the original. And yet, one franchise that has yet to be revisited on the big screen after all this time is Back to the Future. That said, there’s been plenty of Back to the Future 4 talk in the 34 years since Part III came out, and Christopher Lloyd has shared his feelings about the possible sequel.
To be sure, Back to the Future Part III ended the trilogy on a relatively conclusive note, with the DeLorean being destroyed and Doc Brown, his wife Clara and their two children embarking on their own adventures in a time-traveling locomotive. While the franchise has spawned plenty of tie-in media over the decades, there’s never been any major movement on another movie, and Lloyd shared with Yahoo! why it’s unlikely that project will ever get off the ground:
I know at one point they were seriously contemplating a fourth film, but I feel that they made an entire arc with the three movies and that’s the story. Maybe if somebody came up with an incredibly unique story for number four, but we’ve moved on a little bit. So I don’t think that’s gonna happen, but you never know.
This is a slightly softer stance than Christopher Lloyd saying in late 2019 that Back to the Future 4’s straight up “not happening,” which was followed a year later by Bob Gale recalling the time Lloyd jokingly crushed the dreams of hopefuls who want it. Still, barring some “incredibly unique” story being pitched, it doesn’t sound like its chances have improved at all. From Lloyd’s perspective, the people involved with Back to the Future have moved on from that era of their professional lives, so there’s no need for them to revisit it.
At this point, if Back to the Future 4 were to be made, it would likely need to star a cast featuring mostly fresh faces. Michael J. Fox retired from acting after facing more performing difficulties from his Parkinson’s, so the only way I could see Marty McFly involved is through a vocal cameo, if not just solely addressing what happened to the character offscreen. As for Christopher Lloyd, at 84 years old, it’s hard to say if he’d be game for leading Back to the Future 4 in the same capacity he did on the first three movies or would only want a supporting/minor role. Basically, the new movie would need to find a way to keep the original continuity going, but with new characters leading the charge going forward.
With those stipulations, a Back to the Future reboot might be a safer course of action with reviving the film side of the franchise, and Michael J. Fox even suggested that this should be done with Marty as a girl. However, way back in 2015, director Rob Zemeckis said that a reboot/remake can’t happen until he and his co-writer Bob Gale are dead. Then the following year, producer Frank Marshall said Back to the Future wouldn’t be rebooted if he had anything to say about it. So either way, don’t expect a new Back to the Future movie anytime soon, if ever all. The good news is thanks to the animated series that ran from 1991-1992, as well as various video games and comic book series, there are other ways to revisit this corner of pop culture.
For those of you curious what Christopher Lloyd has been up to, check out his recent appearances on The Mandalorian and A Million Little Things with a Disney+ subscription and Hulu subscription, respectively. The schedule of 2023 new movie releases is also available to peruse if you’re curious about cinematic entertainment arriving later in the year.