# 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:** 4
**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, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/61 "2010-11-08T21:52:42Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > A straight remake of “Back to the Future” is stupid and pointless. Agreed. But I fear that won’t stop Hollywood anyway. Look at the Stepford Wives for instance. ---
**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, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/62 "2010-11-08T21:53:43Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > 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) And it would be animated. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/63 "2010-11-08T22:11:11Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > 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. Isn’t the point that you have to cast the actors to fit their youngest age, where then spend the most time, then use make up to age them for the opening and closing acts in the future? Doc is ~45 when Marty’s parents are 17, so 20 years later, when Marty is 17 and his folks 37, Doc is ~65. You could probably cast the right mid 20s actor/actress for the parents and they look young for those scenes, then a little less work is required for the older scenes. But Doc needs to look mid-40’s at his youngest. With that in mind, [Kristen Bell](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0068338/) (aka Veronica Mars) might still work for Lorraine. Crap, she’s 30 now - might be a stretch. ---
**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, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/64 "2010-11-08T22:49:24Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Isn’t the point that you have to cast the actors to fit their youngest age, where then spend the most time, then use make up to age them for the opening and closing acts in the future? Doc is ~45 when Marty’s parents are 17, so 20 years later, when Marty is 17 and his folks 37, Doc is ~65. You could probably cast the right mid 20s actor/actress for the parents and they look young for those scenes, then a little less work is required for the older scenes. But Doc needs to look mid-40’s at his youngest. Yes – this is why I suggested RDJ for Doc Brown. ---
**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, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/65 "2010-11-08T22:56:38Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Isn’t the point that you have to cast the actors to fit their youngest age, where then spend the most time, then use make up to age them for the opening and closing acts in the future? Doc is ~45 when Marty’s parents are 17, so 20 years later, when Marty is 17 and his folks 37, Doc is ~65. You could probably cast the right mid 20s actor/actress for the parents and they look young for those scenes, then a little less work is required for the older scenes. But Doc needs to look mid-40’s at his youngest. > > With that in mind, [Kristen Bell](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0068338/) (aka Veronica Mars) might still work for Lorraine. > > Crap, she’s 30 now - might be a stretch. Marty went back 30 years. Doc would be in his 30’s. Or, present day doc is in his 70’s. ---
**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, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/66 "2010-11-08T23:11:08Z")
Just de-age Christopher Lloyd with CGI. It’s simple. All you gotta do is throw money at the problem. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/67 "2010-11-08T23:27:33Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Gary Busey as Doc Brown. He’s got that crazy wild eyed quality, but one that, with the right director, can be tamed. That’s interesting, because when trying to come up with a good Biff, all I could think of was Jake Busey. But he’s way too old. ---
**Author:** ![Silent\_Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Silent\_Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silent_Kal)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/68 "2010-11-08T23:31:29Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > And it would be animated. 😃 [Wouldn’t be the first time…](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_to_the_Future:_The_Animated_Series) ---
**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 9, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/69 "2010-11-09T00:00:53Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Funny, he’s actually roughly the same age as Marty’s parents in the movie (assuming they were 17 or 18 in 1955). And neither of the actors who played them were… Leah Thompson is just over a week older than Michael J Fox. (May 31, vs June 9, both 1961.) Crispin Glover is actually younger than Fox (and Thompson) by 3 years! (April 1964.) Of course, since Thompson and Glover had to play the teenaged versions of George and Lorraine, as well as the 40-odd year old versions, they more or less had to cast youngish adults in those roles, but it’s still funny that the actor playing their son is the second oldest of the three. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/70 "2010-11-09T00:55:06Z")
> [@Silent\_Kal](#): > > [Wouldn’t be the first time…](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_to_the_Future:_The_Animated_Series) Wow, I don’t remember that at all. ---
**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 9, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/71 "2010-11-09T02:05:48Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Wow, I don’t remember that at all. The version of you that was a devout fan faded from existence after successfully getting jiggy with Eleanor Roosevelt circa 1907. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/72 "2010-11-09T02:32:48Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > 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 You know, that last bit gets a little more jarring if Marty is black. > [@](#): > > But can you imagine 2010 Marty freaking people out in 1985 by playing future music? Kinda. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/73 "2010-11-09T06:28:08Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Just de-age Christopher Lloyd with CGI. It’s simple. All you gotta do is throw money at the problem. ACtually, with the (canon) video game coming out, it wouldn’t surprise me if the whole thing were done in CGI. They’ll have the voice actors, which are mostly the real cast, other than Michael Fox, who, last I heard, was being played by the guy who did his voice in the cartoon. ---
**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 9, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/74 "2010-11-09T06:38:51Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Agreed. But I fear that won’t stop Hollywood anyway. Look at the Stepford Wives for instance. Repeat after me: “mitigation”… > [@Irishman](#): > > Isn’t the point that you have to cast the actors to fit their youngest age, where then spend the most time, then use make up to age them for the opening and closing acts in the future? Well… mid-20s, which is benchmark anyway for Hollywood highschoolers. (When I was a freshman at college I was SHOCKED by how young everyone looked, my perceptions having been set by TV). But beyond that… some people just come with a baseline wider range of believable age. At 36, if I shave and wear a baseball cap, I still get carded (for movies!). But if I let my scruff grow and showed off my thinning hair, not so much. I think Ellen Page fits that role pretty well - she can still play a high schooler, but can also act and play older. > [@Irishman](#): > > With that in mind, [Kristen Bell](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0068338/) (aka Veronica Mars) might still work for Lorraine. She can definitely play slutty younger Lorraine. I see potential for older holier-than-thou revisionist Lorraine. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/75 "2010-11-09T06:45:06Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > They’ll have the voice actors, which are mostly the real cast, other than Michael Fox, who, last I heard, was being played by the guy who did his voice in the cartoon. Nope, a [new guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka5Ypwub2BA). ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/76 "2010-11-09T06:48:22Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Repeat after me: “mitigation”… Can’t we just send a cyborg back in time to kill them before they have the chance to get the ball rolling? ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/77 "2010-11-09T07:13:55Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Can’t we just send a cyborg back in time to kill them before they have the chance to get the ball rolling? You fool!\* Did you not learn the lessons from the Terminator movies and short lived TV show? You might be able to push back the date, but it will still happen. \*I’m only kidding mods. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/78 "2010-11-09T07:28:13Z")
Marty - Thomas Dekker Lorraine- Molly C. Quinn (plays the redhead daughter in Castle. She’ll be 19 in 2012) actually looks a little like a young Lea Thompson Nice pic here > **[Molly C. Quinn | Actress, Producer, Music Department](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0703939/)** > > Known for: Castle, We're the Millers, Hansel & Gretel Get Baked Doc Brown – oh man. this one would be very, very tough. Who could play such a over the top character without looking stupid? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/79 "2010-11-09T07:37:15Z")
Perhaps… James Roday for Doc Brown? James plays a pretty wacky, over the top character on Psych. He’s older than he looks. Born in 1976. With the right makeup to look a little older and get the wild Doc Brown hair. It might work. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782/80 "2010-11-09T07:43:25Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > The problem is setting. In 1985, 30 years ago was in the heart of the '50s, the period baby boomers were most nostalgic about. And in 1985, the computer/digital info boom was getting up steam, and we were expecting a cyberpunk “Japan Inc.” future. IOW, a reboot would have to successfully engage both our nostalgia for the past and our hopes/fears for the future. As mentioned upthread, who longs for the bygone era of 1980? And as for the future, it’s more or less here; no one is really expecting 2040 to be much more than a refined version of today. They could address this by making the time jumps bigger. That is, from 2015, jump back 60 years into the past, to 1955, and 60 years into the future, to 2075. This way, both 1955 and 2075 are still hugely different from the present day, and the culture shocks can be played for laughs, like in the original series. One thing that would have to change for the above to work, is that Marty meets his teenage _grandmother_ in 1955, instead of his mother. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/back-to-the-future-reboot/559782.md?page=5)