Back to the Future (franchise)

Back to the Future
Official franchise logo
Created by	Robert Zemeckis Bob Gale
Original work	Back to the Future (1985)
Owner	Universal Pictures Amblin Entertainment
Print publications
Book(s)	List of books
Comics	List of comics
Films and television
Film(s)	Back to the Future (1985) Back to the Future Part II (1989) Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Short film(s)	Doc Brown Saves the World (2015)
Animated series	Back to the Future (1991–1992)
Theatrical presentations
Musical(s)	Back to the Future (2020)
Games
Video game(s)	List of video games
Audio
Soundtrack(s)	Back to the Future (1985) Back to the Future Part II (1989) Back to the Future Part III (1990) The Back to the Future Trilogy (1999)
Miscellaneous
Theme park attractions	Back to the Future: The Ride (1991)

Back to the Future is an American science fiction adventure comedy film series written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Bob Gale and Neil Canton for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, and distributed by Universal Pictures. The franchise follows the adventures of a high school student, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), and an eccentric scientist, Doctor Emmett L. Brown (Christopher Lloyd), as they use a DeLorean time machine to time travel to different periods in the history of Hill Valley, California.

The first film was the highest-grossing film of 1985 and became an international phenomenon, leading to the second and third films, which were back-to-back film productions, released in 1989 and 1990, respectively. Though the sequels did not perform quite as well at the box office as the first film, the trilogy remains immensely popular and has yielded such spin-offs as an animated television series and a motion-simulation ride at the Universal Studios Theme Parks in Universal City, California; Orlando, Florida; and Osaka, Japan (all now closed), as well as a video game and a stage musical. The film's visual effects were done by Industrial Light and Magic. The trilogy was nominated for five Academy Awards altogether, winning one (Best Sound Editing).

Films

Back to the Future
Directed by	Robert Zemeckis
Produced by	Bob Gale Neil Canton
Written by	Robert Zemeckis Bob Gale
Starring	Michael J. Fox Christopher Lloyd Thomas F. Wilson Lea Thompson
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Cinematography	Dean Cundey
Edited by	Arthur Schmidt Harry Keramidas
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	1985–90
Running time	337 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$99 million
Box office	$975.2 million

Back to the Future (1985)

Main article: Back to the Future

Seventeen-year-old Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time from 1985 to 1955 in a time machine built from a DeLorean by eccentric scientist Emmett "Doc" Brown, when they are attacked and Doc is apparently killed by Libyan terrorists for whom he stole the plutonium that gives the flux capacitor the 1.21 gigawatts it needs to time-travel. Soon after his arrival in 1955, Marty's mother Lorraine falls in love with him, rather than with his father George McFly, threatening to cause a paradox that would result in Marty ceasing to exist. Without plutonium to power the time machine, Marty must find the 1955 Doc Brown to help him reunite his parents and return to 1985.

The efforts of Biff Tannen, George's bully and supervisor, further complicate Marty's situation until Marty successfully causes his parents to fall in love and simultaneously convinces George to finally stand up to Biff. Returning to the future via a lightning strike that powers the machine, Marty discovers a vastly improved situation for the McFly family, as a much more confident George has become an accomplished science fiction author, Marty's two older siblings have better lives, he owns the car of his dreams, and an apparently-softened Biff is now an auto detailer, rather than George's supervisor. Despite 1955 Doc's insistence on not knowing details of the future, a note Marty leaves in his pocket prevents him from being killed by the terrorists. But in the film's final moments, Doc Brown appears in a modified version of the DeLorean and tells Marty and his girlfriend Jennifer Parker that they must travel to the future to fix a problem caused by Marty and Jennifer's kids.

Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Main article: Back to the Future Part II

The series continues as Doc Brown travels with Marty and Jennifer to the year 2015 where he has discovered Marty's family is in ruins. Shortly after rectifying the situation, Marty buys a sports almanac containing the outcomes of 50 years (1950–2000) worth of sporting events to make easy money. However, Doc talks him out of it and throws the almanac in the trash bin, where the 2015 Biff Tannen finds it. A sleeping Jennifer has been taken by police to her future home, needing Marty and Doc to retrieve her before returning to 1985. While Marty and Doc are at the 2015 McFly home, 2015 Biff steals the DeLorean time machine and gives the book to his 1955 self just before he goes to the dance at the end of the first film. When Doc and Marty return to 1985, they find that Biff has used the sports almanac's knowledge for financial gain, which allows him to turn Courthouse Square into a 27-story casino, take over Hill Valley, get away with the murder of Marty's father, and later marry Marty's mother. Marty learns that Biff was given the book by 2015 Biff on November 12, 1955, so he and Doc go back to that date in order to steal the almanac from Biff before he can use it to destroy their lives. They accomplish this in a complex fashion, often crossing their own past-selves' paths. When the duo is about to travel back to 1985, a lightning bolt strikes the DeLorean and activates the time circuits, sending Doc back to 1885 and leaving Marty stranded once again in 1955.

Back to the Future Part III (1990)

Main article: Back to the Future Part III

After finding out that Doc Brown is trapped in 1885, Marty sets out to find the 1955 Doc to help have him fix the DeLorean, which has been waiting for him in a mineshaft for seventy years and restore it to working order. Learning that Doc gets shot in 1885 by Biff's great-grandfather, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, Marty travels back in time to save Doc (who has become a blacksmith) and bring him back to the future. Arriving in the middle of a melee between the United States Cavalry and American Indians, Marty is forced to flee to a cave, the uneven terrain tearing the DeLorean's fuel line in the process, emptying the fuel tank and rendering the engine useless. Marty convinces Doc to come back with him and find a way to get back to his time before it's too late. After several dramatic action scenes involving using a speeding locomotive to push the DeLorean to 88 miles per hour (142 km/h), Marty returns to 1985 without Doc Brown. When the DeLorean appears in 1985 on the same train track as planned, a modern train destroys the DeLorean, with Marty jumping out just in the nick of time. Marty reveals to Jennifer the time travel adventure and they visit the scene of the wreckage of the DeLorean. He worries that Doc has been lost in the past forever, when suddenly Doc appears in a new time machine, modeled after a locomotive. When Marty asks if Doc is going to the future, Doc replies that he has "already been there." Doc's last words of wisdom are that nobody knows their future, so they "must make it a good one." The locomotive flies across the sky and disappears, ending the trilogy.

Future

Co-writer and director Robert Zemeckis, who has final rights to all films in the Back to the Future franchise, has stated that he will block all attempts to remake or reboot the original film. Co-writer Bob Gale has stated that he did not wish to see another film in the series without the Marty McFly character nor any other actor than Michael J. Fox playing him, while acknowledging that Fox's current health condition would make this impossible. He illustrated this at a 2008 fan convention in Florida, stating "The idea of making another Back to the Future movie without Michael J. Fox – you know, that's like saying, 'I'm going to cook you a steak dinner and I'm going to hold the beef." Gale also said that the Telltale video-game adaptation is the closest thing to what a fourth film could be like. In an interview on October 21, 2015, the day of Marty McFly's purported arrival in the future, Christopher Lloyd stated that he would consider making a fourth film under the condition that the original cast and creative team returned, along with a story "worth telling". The same day, Lloyd reprised his role as Doc Brown in a brief segment in which the character returns to announce a special message (titled "Doc Brown Saves the World"), explaining the discrepancy between reality and the future as depicted in the film.

Short film

Doc Brown Saves the World (2015)

Doc Brown Saves the World is a 2015 direct-to-video short film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Christopher Lloyd as Emmett Brown. The short is featured on the 2015 Blu-ray and DVD release of the Back to the Future trilogy commemorating the franchise's 30th anniversary. The short was written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale and produced by Bob Gale and Neil Canton through Amblin Entertainment. Music for the short was performed by Alan Silvestri. The short was released in the United States on October 20, 2015.

Emmett Brown is in an undisclosed location outside Hill Valley, California. He sets a video camera to track his body in order to videotape a message for Marty McFly. He explains that it is October 21, 2015, one hour before Marty, Doc, and Jennifer Parker arrive from 1985. He explains that when he traveled to the future, he discovered that there was a nuclear holocaust that occurred on October 21, 2045. He tracked it down to four inventions: the food hydrator, self-lacing shoes, the hoverboard, and the Mr. Fusion home energy reactor.

The former three inventions led to the world becoming lazy and obese, leading to widespread waste. The invention of hoverboards led to hovercars, which led to people throwing their trash out of the windows, causing a great trash storm in 2021. All of this trash needed to be disposed of, which led to 100 million Mr. Fusion units being manufactured. All of the Mr. Fusion units had a tiny nuclear reactor inside, and all of them detonated on October 21, 2045. The chain of events that led to this happening began less than twenty-four hours after Marty caused Griff Tannen to crash his hoverboard into the Hill Valley Courthouse when Griff was sentenced. He vowed to get back at the world for laughing at him and planned to do it through a company that he would found, GriffTech.

Doc holds up a tablet computer with a digital version of the Hill Valley Telegraph. On June 13, 2032, GriffTech invented a social media network called ThingMeme, which secured funding from Douglas J. Needles. ThingMeme allowed inanimate objects to post selfies on the internet. However, it was a scam, as it allowed Griff to gain access to every object on Earth. On the 30th anniversary of his arrest, on October 21, 2045, he uploaded a virus that was supposed to flash the word "butthead" on everything. However, it short-circuited the Mr. Fusion network, causing nuclear explosions in 100 million homes worldwide.

Doc Brown travels to an unknown date to ensure these inventions are never created, which will prevent the nuclear explosion. He leaves his camera on, which captures the inventions being erased from history. He arrives back in 2015, in a winter jacket and ski goggles, declaring that the mission was more complicated than he calculated, but declaring it a success. He holds up the tablet computer, where the headline on the Hill Valley Telegraph changes from "Griff Tannen Founds Grifftech" to "Griff Tannen Found Guilty".

Doc's excitement is short-lived, however, as he reaches in his pocket. He pulls out the Quantum Mind Jar, which he thought he disposed of in 2075. He is worried that not doing so will unravel everything they accomplished. The artificial intelligence of the Quantum Mind Jar tells Brown that they need to go back to the future, which he dismisses as he does not want to risk further time travel.

Another Emmett Brown then arrives, also declaring his experiment a success. Both versions of Brown, along with the artificial intelligence of the Quantum Mind Jar, are shocked at discovering that there are two Emmett Browns present.

Television

Back to the Future (1991–1992)

Main article: Back to the Future (TV series)

An animated television series, Back to the Future: The Animated Series, lasted two seasons, each featuring 13 episodes, and ran on CBS from September 14, 1991 to December 26, 1992.

Cast and crew

Principal cast

See also: List of Back to the Future characters

Characters	Films			Ride	Animated series	Video game					Short film
	Back to the Future	Back to the Future Part II	Back to the Future Part III	Back to the Future: The Ride	Back to the Future	Episode 1: It's About Time	Episode 2: Get Tannen!	Episode 3: Citizen Brown	Episode 4: Double Visions	Episode 5: Outatime	Doc Brown Saves the World
	1985	1989	1990	1991	1991–1992	2010	2011				2015
Martin "Marty" McFly	Michael J. Fox			Michael J. Fox (archive footage)	David Kaufman	A. J. Locascio				A. J. Locascio
										Michael J. Fox (future Martys)
Doctor Emmett "Doc" Brown	Christopher Lloyd				Dan Castellaneta	Christopher Lloyd		Christopher Lloyd (First Citizen Brown)	Christopher Lloyd (First Citizen Brown)	Christopher Lloyd	Christopher Lloyd
					Christopher Lloyd (live-action segments)	James Arnold Taylor (young)			James Arnold Taylor (young)
Biff Tannen	Thomas F. Wilson					Kid Beyond
						Thomas F. Wilson (2015 re-release)
George McFly	Crispin Glover	Jeffrey Weissman	Jeffrey Weissman			Michael Sommers
		Crispin Glover (archive footage)
Lorraine Baines-McFly	Lea Thompson					Aimee Miles
Jennifer Parker	Claudia Wells	Elisabeth Shue			Cathy Cavadini			Claudia Wells
Einstein	Tiger	Freddie		Freddie	Danny Mann	Dog sound effects only				Dog sound effects only
				Tiger (archive footage)
Gerald Strickland	James Tolkan					Photograph			Photograph
David "Dave" McFly	Marc McClure	Marc McClure (deleted scene)	Marc McClure
Linda McFly	Wendie Jo Sperber		Wendie Jo Sperber
Goldie Wilson	Donald Fullilove
3-D	Casey Siemaszko					Photograph
Match	Billy Zane
Skinhead	J. J. Cohen
Marvin Berry	Harry Waters Jr.
Marty McFly, Jr.		Michael J. Fox
Marlene McFly
Griff		Thomas F. Wilson			Thomas F. Wilson
Douglas J. Needles		Flea
Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen		Thomas F. Wilson (photograph)	Thomas F. Wilson		Cameo in Season one intro
Clara Clayton			Mary Steenburgen	Photograph	Mary Steenburgen
Seamus McFly			Michael J. Fox
Maggie McFly			Lea Thompson
William McFly			Michael J. Fox (photograph)							Michael J. Fox
			N/A
James Strickland			James Tolkan			Photograph				Photograph
Jules Brown			Todd Cameron Brown		Joshua Keaton
Verne Brown			Dannel Evans		Troy Davidson
Copernicus	N/A		Foster
Biff Tannen, Jr.					Benji Gregory
Beauregard Tannen					Thomas F. Wilson	Photograph				Owen Thomas
Edna Strickland						Shannon Nicholson (young)	Shannon Nicholson	Rebecca Sweitzer	Shannon Nicholson (young)
						Rebecca Sweitzer (old)			Rebecca Sweitzer (old)
Arthur McFly						Michael Sommers		Photograph	Michael Sommers
Irving "Kid" Tannen						Owen Thomas			Owen Thomas
Erhardt Brown						Roger L. Jackson				Roger L. Jackson
Trixie Trotter							Melissa Hutchison		Melissa Hutchison

Additional crew

Role	Film
	Back to the Future (1985)	Back to the Future Part II (1989)	Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Director	Robert Zemeckis
Writers	Robert Zemeckis Bob Gale	Story: Robert Zemeckis Bob Gale Screenplay: Bob Gale
Producers	Neil Canton Bob Gale
Executive producers	Steven Spielberg Kathleen Kennedy Frank Marshall
Cinematographer	Dean Cundey
Editors	Harry Keramidas Arthur Schmidt
Composer	Alan Silvestri
Production designers	Lawrence G. Paull	Rick Carter
Production company	Amblin Entertainment
Distributor	Universal Pictures

Reception

Box office performance

Box office performance of Back to the Future films

Film	Release date	Box office gross			Budget	References
		North America	Other territories	Worldwide
Back to the Future	July 3, 1985	$210,609,762	$178,444,035	$389,053,797	$19,000,000
Back to the Future Part II	November 22, 1989	$118,450,002	$213,500,000	$331,950,002	$40,000,000
Back to the Future Part III	May 25, 1990	$87,727,583	$156,800,000	$244,527,583	$40,000,000
Back to the Future Day	October 21, 2015	$1,650,000	$3,200,000	$4,850,000
Total		$420,087,347	$555,044,035	$970,381,382	$99,000,000

• ^(A) indicates the adjusted totals based on current ticket prices (by Box Office Mojo).

As of June 2011, the Back to the Future series is the 14th-highest-grossing trilogy of all time at the domestic market (adjusted for inflation), 17th-highest-grossing trilogy of all time at the domestic market (not adjusted for inflation), and the 13th-highest-grossing trilogy of all time, worldwide (not adjusted for inflation).

The trilogy was re-released in certain countries worldwide on October 21, 2015 to commemorate the date traveled to by the protagonists in Back to the Future Part II and generated $4.8 million on its opening day. In the United States and Canada, it earned $1.65 million from ticket sales across 1,815 North American theaters on its opening day. Germany opened with $1.4 million and the United Kingdom with $345,000. Revenues from other territories such as Australia, Austria, France, Italy were moderate.

The first movie in the trilogy returned to certain countries once again for the 35th anniversary of the first film. In the United Kingdom, this was originally scheduled to begin on May 29, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 Pandemic the opening dates of various cinemas were delayed, and on a cinema-by-cinema basis slowly reopened. Many cinemas also showed the rest of the trilogy, partially due to the coinciding 30th anniversary of Part III.

Critical and public response

Critical and public reception of Back to the Future films

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic	CinemaScore
Back to the Future	96% (79 reviews)	87 (26 reviews)	N/A
Back to the Future Part II	65% (60 reviews)	57 (17 reviews)	A-
Back to the Future Part III	80% (44 reviews)	55 (19 reviews)	A-

Marty McFly and Doc Brown were included in Empire's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time, ranking No. 39 and No. 76 respectively.

Cultural impact

Back to the Future Day

File:McFlyTacoma.jpg

The replica Toyota Tacoma concept based on the original Toyota truck, on display during the Pittsburgh International Auto Show at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in 2016.

October 21, 2015, the date used for the setting of the future events during the first act of the second film, has been called "Back to the Future Day" by the media. The year 2015 also commemorated the 30th anniversary of the release of the original film.

Many promotions were planned to mark the passing of the date, with many playing to the depiction of the future in the film, including:

• Universal Pictures created a trailer for Jaws 19, the fictional 3D film advertised in the future setting.
• Universal and Mattel produced an advertisement for the hoverboard seen in the film.
• Pepsi produced a limited run of the "Pepsi Perfect" soft drink, including the unique bottles, which sold out before October 21, 2015.
• The Ford Motor Company allowed users configuring a Ford Focus on their website to add a Flux Capacitor as a $1.2 million option.
• Nintendo released the game Wild Gunman, which Marty is seen playing in the Cafe '80s scene, on the Wii U's Virtual Console service.
• The October 22, 2015 edition of USA Today used a mock-front page which was a recreation of the one seen in the film on that date. The back of the mock page contains an advertisement for Jaws 19, as well as ads for the 30th anniversary Back to the Future box set and The Michael J. Fox Foundation. On the real front page, the USA Today blue dot is replaced with a drone camera like the one seen in the film. The print edition of this edition sold out in record time, according to USA Today.
• Nike revealed that they had recreated the Nike Mag shoes that Michael J. Fox wears in the film, complete with self-lacing power laces (a 2011 design was based on the same shoes, but lacked the power laces). Although the laces operated more slowly than those seen in the film, they were nonetheless shown to work as intended in an eight-second video featuring Fox wearing the shoes. Pairs of the shoes were sold via auction in 2016 to benefit The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
• Toyota and Universal Pictures celebrated the 30th anniversary of the film series with a Toyota Tacoma Concept that was inspired by the original 1985 pickup that Toyota created for the 1985 film. The 2016 Tacoma 4WD was recreated using the same features and black color paint trim, KC HiLite driving lamps (modified with LED lighting), modified headlights and taillights (matching the 1985 version), the Toyota badging to the truck's tailgate, as well as the same D-4S fuel injection, the 1985-inspired mudflaps, and customized license plates matching the 2015 vehicles in Part II. The only difference between the 1985 original and the 2016 concept is the tires: Goodyear was featured in the 1985 film, while BF Goodrich is used on the concept. Toyota notes that this is a one-off concept as there are no plans to offer it as a package or level trim. Toyota also produced a promotional video starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd and featuring many of the locations depicted in the film series, wherein the Delorean's Mr. Fusion is used as a comparison for Toyota's hydrogen powered Mirai.
• Universal re-released all three films on DVD and Blu-ray disc on October 20, 2015.
• Telltale Games re-released their licensed Back to the Future: The Game in a 30th Anniversary edition for newer consoles a week in advance of October 21. Several video games released downloadable content related to Back to the Future to coincide with October 21, 2015, including Rocket League and LittleBigPlanet 3.

Cast members appeared on Today and Jimmy Kimmel Live! on October 21, 2015. Nearly 2,000 theaters worldwide showed back-to-back screenings of the Back to the Future trilogy on October 21 and continuing through that weekend, which earned over $4.8M in single day ticket sales. Universal Studios offered location tours of the various filming locations around the date. The town of Reston, Virginia, temporarily changed its name to "Hill Valley" to commemorate the series during its annual film festival. Esquire Network aired the trilogy all day that day, plus all weekend.

• 

  A cosplayer at a "Back to the Future Day" screening in Boise, Idaho

• 

  The White House celebrated Back to the Future Day.

Music

Soundtracks

In 1985, MCA Records released the Back to the Future soundtrack. It featured eight tracks performed by Huey Lewis and the News, Lindsey Buckingham, Eric Clapton, Marvin Berry and the Starlighters, and Etta James. Only two tracks were culled from Alan Silvestri's orchestral score.

In 1989, MCA Records released Back to the Future Part II soundtrack with 13 tracks.

In 1990, Varèse Sarabande released Back to the Future Part III soundtrack with 18 tracks.

In 1999, Varèse Sarabande released The Back to the Future Trilogy soundtrack with eight tracks from the first film, seven from the second, four from the third, and one from the ride.

In 2009, Intrada released a two-CD Back to the Future set as Intrada Special Collection Volume 116. It features the complete original motion picture soundtrack (that is, Alan Silvestri's entire orchestral score) from Back to the Future (Part I) with 24 tracks, 15 tracks of alternate early sessions and one unused source cue from the scoring sessions.

Home media

2002 DVD and VHS release: "The Complete Trilogy"

In July 1997, Universal Studios announced that Back to the Future would be one of their first ten releases to the new format, though it ended up being delayed for five years. The films were finally released on DVD and VHS on December 17, 2002 in both Widescreen (1.85:1) and Full Screen (1.33:1).

2009 DVD reissue

On February 10, 2009, Universal released each of the Back to the Future films individually. The first film was released as part of a 2-disc set featuring the documentary Looking Back to the Future and Back to the Future: The Ride.

2010 DVD and Blu-ray release: "25th Anniversary Trilogy"

In June 2008, a special screening of the trilogy was held in Celebration, Florida. Bob Gale told the crowd they were seeing the digitally remastered version that was going to be used for the Blu-ray version of the movies. Gale also spoke to potential supplemental features on a Blu-ray version of the trilogy, saying only that never-before-seen bonus materials may appear, though he stopped short of offering any specifics. On June 28, 2010, Universal announced that the Blu-ray edition of the films would be released on October 26, 2010, twenty-five years to the day from the date of the fictional events from the first film. There have been numerous complaints about the R1 packaging, leading to the release of an instruction sheet on how to safely remove and insert discs.

2015 DVD and Blu-ray release: "30th Anniversary Trilogy"

On October 20, 2015, one day before the date of the fictional events transpiring in the 2015 segment of Part II, the trilogy was once again released on Blu-ray and DVD. A bonus disc was included, which featured new bonus material such as Outatime which is a look into the restoration of the time machine from 2012, Doc Brown Saves the World! which is a new short movie starring Christopher Lloyd, Looking Back to the Future which is a nine-part retrospective documentary from 2009, two episodes from The Animated Series, two novelty commercials about Jaws 19 and the Hoverboard from 2015 and much more.

2020 Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-ray and DVD release: "The Ultimate Trilogy"

On July 2020, a new release was announced via press release for The Ultimate Trilogy, a new set for Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-ray and DVD featuring newly remastered picture and sound, never before released content and store exclusive collectible packaging for Target and Best Buy including three newly designed steelbooks and a Limited Edition Gift Set with a collectible levitating replica of the Hoverboard featured in Part II.

Other media

Comic books

A comic book series was published by Harvey Comics in 1992 detailing further adventures of the animated series. Only seven issues were produced. IDW is publishing a mini-series which presents the first meeting of both Marty and Doc Brown and is written by co-screenwriter Bob Gale, which was released in stores on October 21, 2015, the same date that Marty travels with Doc Brown to the future depicted in the storyline for Part II. In issue 3, it was revealed that it had become an ongoing monthly comic due to popular demand. Beginning in issue #6, the original format of one or two untold stories per issue was replaced with a multi-issue ongoing story arc. The original subtitle for the comic, "Untold Tales and Alternate Timelines", was used for the trade paperback which contained the first five comics in the series. Other series published by IDW include "Citizen Brown", which adapts the Telltale video game, "Biff to the Future", which depicts Biff Tannen's rise to power after being given the almanac by his future self. The latter is also co-written by Gale. The series has now gone on to what IDW calls "chapter 2" of the series with "Tales from the Time Train." This is a series of stories detailing where Doc and the Brown family went after time traveling at the end of Back to the Future Part III.

Books

Each film in the trilogy also received a novelization that expanded on the movies by adding scenes, characters, and dialog, often culled from early-draft scripts.

In 2012, Hasslein Books released A Matter of Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Lexicon, written by Rich Handley. The book was released in cooperation with BTTF.com, the official Back to the Future website. A second volume, Back in Time: The Unauthorized Back to the Future Chronology, by Greg Mitchell and Rich Handley, was released in 2013.

Video games

Main article: List of Back to the Future video games

Various video games based on the Back to the Future movies have been released over the years for home video game systems, including the Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Master System, Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Super Famicom platforms. Additionally the game trilogy has also been released for Windows (PC), for Apple (MAC) and for Apple (iPad).

The 2015 video game Lego Dimensions features two Back to the Future-themed toy packs. The Level Pack adds a bonus level that adapts the events of the first film and includes a Marty McFly Minifigure, along with a constructible DeLorean and Hoverboard. The Fun Pack includes a Doc Brown Minifigure and a constructible Time Train from Part III. Both unlock access to an in-game open world set in Hill Valley. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd reprise their respective roles.

Pinball

Main article: Back to the Future: The Pinball

Two pinball adaptations of the film trilogy were released. The first pinball adaptation was a physical one produced by Data East, available in 1990, and titled Back to the Future: The Pinball. Over two decades later, Zen Studios developed and released a new, digital pinball adaptation in 2017, available as add-on content for Pinball FX 3 along with two other tables based on iconic classic films from Universal Pictures, Jaws and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. The latter table behaves differently than the original Data East version and features 3-D animated figures and visual effects that are impossible to reproduce on a physical table.

Stage musical

Main article: Back to the Future (musical)

On 31 January 2014, it was announced that a stage musical adaptation of the first film was in production. The show was co-written by original writers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale. According to Gale, the musical will be "true to the spirit of the film without being a slavish remake". Originally intended to be part of the 30th anniversary of the original film in 2015, the musical got pushed back to 2016 before finally having its premiere set for Feb. 20, 2020.

Automotive commercials

In 2015, Fox and Lloyd starred alongside popular YouTube science personality Go Tech Yourself in an extended Toyota commercial for Toyota's new fuel cell vehicle, the Mirai, entitled Fueled by the Future. The commercial doubled as a tribute to the franchise and illustrated how the idea of converting trash into fuel had become reality. The commercial was released on October 21—the same date to which Marty, Doc and Jennifer traveled in Back to the Future Part II.

Theme park ride

Main article: Back to the Future: The Ride

Back to the Future: The Ride was a simulator ride based on and inspired by the Back to the Future films and is a mini-sequel to the 1990s Back to the Future Part III. The original attraction opened on May 2, 1991, at Universal Studios Florida. It also opened on June 2, 1993, at Universal Studios Hollywood and on March 31, 2001, at Universal Studios Japan. The rides in the United States have since been replaced by The Simpsons Ride. The ride in Japan remained operational until May 31, 2016.

Documentaries

Main article: Back in Time (2015 film)

In the fall of 2015, a Kickstarter project released the Back in Time documentary film. The film features interviews with the members of the cast and crew along with the cultural impact of the trilogy 30 years later.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Back to the Future (franchise) or Back to the Future Day

• Back to the Future at IMDb
• Back to the Future at AllMovie
• Interview with cast and director reunited on The Today Show for the 25th anniversary of the release of the first movie