‘Back to the Future’ Co-Creator On Possibility of a Fourth Movie

If you’re still holding out hope for a fourth Back to the Future movie … you can probably just let that go.

A fourth movie is not coming, at least not while the franchise’s creators are alive and actively involved in the series. Appearing at the Saturn Awards recently, Back to the Future co-creator Bob Gale said (via The Hollywood Reporter) that he loves the work he is doing on Back to the Future: The Musical, and that is there for fans who want something new in the Back to the Future universe. As for a true Back to the Future 4, well…

“People always say, well, ‘When are you guys going to do Back to the Future 4? And we say, ‘F— you,’ you quote me on that!”

Well okay then.

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“We made three terrific movies and people kept asking for more Back to the Future,” Gale added. “So we made Back to the Future: The Musical … We’re taking it around the world.”

After a long development process (and a delay because of Covid), the Back to the Future musical premiered in London in 2022. It opened on Broadway in the summer of 2023. Gale wrote the book for the show (based on his own screenplay for the first Back to the Future co-written with film director Robert Zemeckis). It faithfully adapts the first film in the franchise with a couple minor changes. (There are no terrorists in this version, for example; Doc’s death in the opening scenes is instead the result of radiation poisoning.) It features songs from the film like “The Power of Love” and “Johnny B. Goode,” along with originals written by Back to the Future composer Alan Silvestri with lyrics by Glen Ballard.

Back to the Future: The Musical closed on Broadway in January, but a national tour is now underway. Upcoming stops include Dallas,Texas, Tampa, Florida, and Providence, Rhode Island. You can get tickets and more information at the show’s official website. I saw the show on Broadway; it was a lot of fun. (The DeLorean effects were especially cool.) If you like the film, you’ll almost certainly enjoy the show too.