# Back to the Future reboot **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2010, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782 "2010-11-07T09:16:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/41 "2010-11-08T01:36:22Z")
They should just give the role to Christopher Lloyd. Hell, they made him look old before. Now he actually looks the part. Let him reprise his role. Just like they added Spock to the Star Trek reboot. Maybe there’s another mad scientist who’s using a time machine to do evil, and Marty has to track down Doc Brown to help save the day. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/42 "2010-11-08T01:42:21Z")
Can they bitchslap Scott Bakula at some point? ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/43 "2010-11-08T04:46:42Z")
If they start filming next year, they could have a reboot with Michael J. Fox ready for October 21, 2015. If they don’t, then they still need to do something on that date. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/44 "2010-11-08T06:23:34Z")
> [@Chef\_Troy](#): > > I think Robert Downey Jr. could make a good Doc Brown; he can totally do that twitchy, wild-eyed quality that Doc had. I can totally see this! Although I think he’s not quite old enough. I could see Matt Frewer as being appropriate… > [@Chef\_Troy](#): > > Michael Cera, not as Marty, but as George McFly. Ohhh…he definitely has the nerdy pushover thing, although he is missing the creepiness. And perhaps he’s too young looking? Could he effectively play older George? > [@Chef\_Troy](#): > > Ellen Page as Lorraine McFly.. I can see that, although simulcasting with Michael might draw unwanted attention to the fourth wall. > [@Chef\_Troy](#): > > I think you have to throw the Marty role to a newcomer, someone who doesn’t have any cinematic baggage. As much hate as Shia TheBeef gets, he actually has the exact same youthful spastic underdog energy as Michael J Fox did as Marty. I think he is,if not the obvious go-to guy, at very least the template. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/45 "2010-11-08T06:55:30Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > Apart from RD Jr (too young), I like that casting. Robert Downey jr is currently 45 years old. Christopher Lloyd was born in October 1938, and so, in early 1985 was 46 years old. So, if a BttF reboot did come out, and did cast Downey…he’d be the same age, or older than Lloyd was when he made the original. Not that I think Downey would be able to pull off the character - I can’t imagine Downey being manic without coming across as coked up, rather than just kind of nutty - but it’s not because he’s ‘too young’ by any stretch. A friend suggested Shia LeBeouf for Marty, and he could pull it off, I think. I think he could pull off playing a teenager for another couple years at least (he certainly looks younger than Fox did at 24 (when he played Marty)), and, movies he gets aside, he’s not a bad actor at all. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/46 "2010-11-08T07:05:42Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > As much hate as Shia TheBeef gets, he actually has the exact same youthful spastic underdog energy as Michael J Fox did as Marty. I think he is,if not the obvious go-to guy, at very least the template. Heh…this post wasn’t here when I made mine…I just spent too much time looking up Downey, Lloyd, and LeBeouf’s ages… ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/47 "2010-11-08T07:27:26Z")
Downey still _seems_ a lot younger than Lloyd did - it’d be hard to buy him as a character that old. I suppose he could just play the role younger, but he still wouldn’t seem right to me. I couldn’t see him choosing to play second-fiddle to some young lead actor anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Chef\_Troy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/48 "2010-11-08T16:03:54Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > What about Michael J. Fox? I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/49 "2010-11-08T17:02:07Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Christopher Lloyd was born in October 1938, and so, in early 1985 was 46 years old. Funny, he’s actually roughly the same age as Marty’s parents in the movie (assuming they were 17 or 18 in 1955). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/50 "2010-11-08T18:52:25Z")
One of the central conceits of “Back to the Future” is how the 50s was a different country. So you go back 30 years and there’s serious culture clash. The 60s and 70s transformed the country. Going back from 2015 to 1985 doesn’t have the same effect. Oh, there have been changes, but 1985 isn’t a foreign place. Sure, no internet, no black president, the Soviet Union is pointing missiles at us, and so on. But can you imagine 2010 Marty freaking people out in 1985 by playing future music? Marty expects the 50s to be different, and they are, but he’s also surprised to find that they aren’t so different–his mom is a teenage slut, for instance. But would a 2010 Marty be as surprised to find out the truth about his 1985 mom? Maybe it’s just me, because I was born in 1966, and saw the change from 1985 to 2010 with my own eyes. But there’s a lot of continuity there, compared to the change from 1985 to 1950. There’s be a similar discontinuity between the prosperous and stable 1950s and the gloom and doom 30s and 40s. The continuity of the 80s to 2010 means that we don’t have the juxtaposition of the familiar in the foreign, and the foreign in the familiar that we do with the 80s and the 50s. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/51 "2010-11-08T19:07:33Z")
I don’t much like Shia LaBeouf, but I do think he’s probably one of the few modern-day young actors who could pull off Marty. Zac Efron is too pretty-boy. For George, what about Cillian Murphy? And much as I can’t stand him, with the right director (to rein him in and make him stop mugging like an idiot) I could see Jim Carrey as Doc Brown. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/52 "2010-11-08T19:14:59Z")
Justin Beiber = Marty McFly Ducks and Runs…very quickly ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/53 "2010-11-08T19:30:31Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > justin beiber = marty mcfly > ducks and runs…very quickly gggrrrr hulk smash!!! ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/54 "2010-11-08T19:33:33Z")
Gary Busey as Doc Brown. He’s got that crazy wild eyed quality, but one that, with the right director, can be tamed. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/55 "2010-11-08T19:34:39Z")
And just like that, this remake has taken a frightening turn. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/56 "2010-11-08T19:43:06Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Gary Busey as Doc Brown. He’s got that crazy wild eyed quality, but one that, with the right director, can be tamed. [I’m going to pull your endocrine system out of your body, and make a cat out of it!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O7c27baJP8) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/57 "2010-11-08T19:48:42Z")
What’s wrong with Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown? In fact, that’s the only way this could work. You have a semi-remake/sequel. The movie opens in 2015, with whatever hip young demographic pleasing actor you want. And he has to travel back to 1985 because he has to prevent/cause events from the original movies. Turns out the 2015 we saw in the original movies was an alternate timeline, which never came to pass due to Marty and Doc changing history, and instead we had the real-life 2015. So the movie focuses more on straight-up time travel hi-jinks rather than nostalgia. Or rather, the nostalgia isn’t for the lost world of the 50s, but the original movies themselves. So there’s a convoluted plot where The Beef (or whoever) is CGI’d into the background of the original movies, and he has to arrange everything behind the scenes or the original movie timeline gets erased from history. See that DS9 episode where Sisko and Dax relive “The Trouble with Tribbles”. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/58 "2010-11-08T20:33:32Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > What’s wrong with Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown? > > In fact, that’s the only way this could work. You have a semi-remake/sequel. The movie opens in 2015, with whatever hip young demographic pleasing actor you want. And he has to travel back to 1985 because he has to prevent/cause events from the original movies. Turns out the 2015 we saw in the original movies was an alternate timeline, which never came to pass due to Marty and Doc changing history, and instead we had the real-life 2015. So the movie focuses more on straight-up time travel hi-jinks rather than nostalgia. Or rather, the nostalgia isn’t for the lost world of the 50s, but the original movies themselves. > > So there’s a convoluted plot where The Beef (or whoever) is CGI’d into the background of the original movies, and he has to arrange everything behind the scenes or the original movie timeline gets erased from history. See that DS9 episode where Sisko and Dax relive “The Trouble with Tribbles”. Back to the Future II pretty much already did that though. They interacted with the first movie, and they worked to save 2015. Yeah, it won’t turn out like reality, but still, that was the premise. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/59 "2010-11-08T21:34:54Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Back to the Future II pretty much already did that though. They interacted with the first movie, and they worked to save 2015. Yeah, it won’t turn out like reality, but still, that was the premise. Yes, but since the whole point of the remake is to cash in on the originals, it makes sense to steal the premise of the sequel to the original. Except instead of the 50s, the 80s. A straight remake of “Back to the Future” is stupid and pointless. A ripoff sequel to “Back to the Future” would at least have a point. And if you’re not going to reuse Christopher Lloyd, then why bother? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/60 "2010-11-08T21:51:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Jackman, incidentally, is an interesting idea. Johnny Depp could also pull it off. Oh yeah, Johnny Depp as Doc. And Helena Bonham Carter as Lorraine. And they could get Tim Burton to direct! And Danny Elfman could do the score! And it would be in 3-D!! urghhrgg!!! (sorry, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782.md?page=4)