Producer/co-writer Bob Gale says that Back to the Future 4 will never happen, instead putting his focus on the musical.
As Back to the Future celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, no doubt there will be continued reunions and events throughout 2025. The most recent came at this weekend’s 52nd Saturn Awards, where the film was honored with the George Pal Memorial Award, marking the first time the award has ever been given to a film. But with such events comes the inevitable question: Will there be a Back to the Future 4?
Speaking at the awards, producer and co-write Bob Gale – joined by stars Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson – said that anybody asking for a Back to the Future 4 should move on. “I’m having the best third act of life that anybody could imagine. People always say, well, ‘When are you guys going to do Back to the Future 4? And we say, ‘F*ck you,’ you quote me on that!”
But that doesn’t mean Bob Gale is forever stepping away from Back to the Future. In fact, he has been embracing it – just on an entirely different stage. “We made three terrific movies and people kept asking for more Back to the Future. So we made Back to the Future: The Musical…We’re taking it around the world.” He added, “So, my God, Back to the Future, I’m going to be doing it for the rest of my life. Who could ask for anything more?”
Lloyd has been open about supporting Back to the Future 4, saying he believed the trilogy could expand if the right idea came along. We all love the Back to the Future movies and a fourth might have been dynamite in the early ‘90s, but considering it’s been 25 years since Part III, Lloyd is now in his mid-80s, Michael J. Fox is continuing his battle with Parkinson’s, and the producers are actively against it, it’s just time to give it a rest.
It turns out that we can forget about the musical hitting the screen, too, as Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis said that Universal had zero interest in letting him adapt it.
Do you think a Back to the Future 4 could work this far removed from the original trilogy? Or should this one be left in the past?
