For several decades, Robert Zemeckis has been one of Hollywood’s most sought-after filmmakers. A status earned through hits like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Death Becomes Her,” “Forrest Gump,” and “Cast Away.” It’s hard to imagine that he would have any trouble getting a project green-lit but it turns out there is at least one he hasn’t gotten off the ground, a film adaptation of “Back to the Future: The Musical.”
“Back to the Future: The Musical”
In a recent interview on “Happy Sad Confused” with Josh Horowitz, Zemeckis was asked if he could make any project, what would it be?
At first, he said maybe the “Roger Rabbit” sequel, before acknowledging he rarely has issues getting the films he really wants greenlit. When Horowitz probed further, if there are any actors or genres he’d like to work with, Zemeckis reveals he wants to do a musical.
“Well, you know what? I would like to do the ‘Back to the Future: The Musical,'” the director responded. “As a film, yeah just like [Mel] Brooks did ‘The Producers.’ I would love to do that.”
Brooks adapted his 1967 comedy about two men trying to intentionally make a Broadway flop into a stage play in 2001. Only to then turn the musical version into another film directed by Susan Stroman in 2005. Cult director John Waters took an identical approach with his 1988 film “Hairspray.”
In 2020, Zemeckis and Bob Gale teamed up with composers Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard to turn his touchstone 1980s film into a musical stage production. While it certainly looks like he is following in Brooks and Waters’ footsteps, there is a bit of a catch.
“I floated that out to the folks at Universal, they don’t get it so nothing I can do,“ Zemeckis laments. Making this yet another cool idea by a box office heavy hitter that will likely never see the light of day because some studio executives didn’t “get it.”
You can also catch “Back to the Future: The Musical” at the Hollywood Pantages Theater on November 27th, 2024.
You can watch Zemeckis’ full interview with “Happy Sad Confused” below:
