‘Back to the Future’ Release Likely To Launch New Era for Franchise

Great Scott! Universal Pictures is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future with a theatrical re-release on October 31, giving fans the chance to relive Marty McFly’s first trip through time on the big screen. A brand-new trailer highlights iconic moments from the 1985 original, while adding a guitar-fueled version of Alan Silvestri’s theme. Watch it below:

When it first hit theaters, Robert Zemeckis’ sci-fi adventure became 1985’s biggest box office hit and earned multiple awards. Its sequels, Back to the Future Part II (1989) and Part III (1990), cemented the trilogy as a pop-culture cornerstone.

The property has since lived on through everything from comic books to Back to the Future: The Musical, which continues to attract audiences worldwide.

But what about new stories? Co-writer/co-producer Bob Gale has been firm on numerous occasions that another movie is never going to happen. “When is there going to be a prequel? Never,” he said earlier this year. “When is there going to be a spinoff? Never. It’s just fine the way it is.”

Director/co-writer Robert Zemeckis, on the other hand, has said he’d “love to do Back to the Future: The Musical” as a film, suggesting that the future of the franchise may indeed come in unexpected forms.

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That doesn’t mean the time machine is parked forever, though.

Rumors continue to swirl about Universal Studios Great Britain potentially including a Back to the Future attraction when it opens in 2031. Theme park history runs deep here—Universal Orlando once boasted the classic Back to the Future: The Ride before it was closed down. But could the U.K. theme park resort bring the DeLorean revving back to life?

Beyond the parks, Universal could follow Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous and Chaos Theory with an animated Back to the Future series aimed at a younger audience (the one that aired in 1991 has been mostly forgotten by fans).

A streaming project—animated or live action—would allow new stories without altering the film trilogy’s ending. And then there’s gaming: Telltale Games’ 2010 episodic adventure proved fans are hungry for interactive time travel. A modern follow-up, with today’s technology, could easily be the next chapter.

For now, the DeLorean rides again in theaters this fall. Otherwise, whether it’s on screen, on stage, or even in VR headsets, the world of Hill Valley shows no signs of disappearing.

Back to the Future releases in select theaters on October 31 in Dolby Cinema, 4DX and D-Box formats. The film is also getting a Steelbook 4K Blu-Ray Release on October 14.

Back to the Future stars Michael J. Fox (Marty McFly), Christopher Lloyd (Doc Emmett Brown), Lea Thompson (Lorraine Baines-McFly), Crispin Glover (George McFly), Thomas F. Wilson (Biff Tannen), Claudia Wells (Jennifer Parker), James Tolkan (Principal Strickland), Marc McClure (Dave McFly), and Wendie Jo Sperber (Linda McFly).

Will you be rediscovering Back to the Future (1985) this October? Let us know in the comments below!