In a new cover story with Variety, Michael J. Fox said that he thinks Back to the Future doesn't "need" a reboot but he's made his peace with the idea if it ever were to happen.
Fox admitted that he's "not fanatical," and wouldn't attempt to stand in the way of a possible reboot of the trilogy, all three of which were directed by Robert Zemeckis and co-written by Bob Gale. "Do what you want. It's your movie," he said. "I got paid already." He doesn't think a revival is all that necessary, though, and he doesn't think that creators Zemeckis and Gale would be on board, either.
"I don't think it needs to be [rebooted]," he said. "I think Bob and Bob have been really smart about that. I don't think it needs rebooting because are you going to clarify something? You're going to find a better way to tell the story? I doubt it."
As for whether there were any conversations regarding a follow-up to Part III, which was released a year before he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1991, he said he wasn't involved. "I'm sure somebody thought about it," he said. "But I was in the early stages of Parkinson's at that point, so I don't know that I would have wanted to take that on. Right after Part III had done well, there might have been conversations about it, but I never got involved in them."
His co-star Christopher Lloyd, who portrayed Dr. Emmett 'Doc' Brown in the trilogy, isn't as against the idea, however. "I would love to do a sequel, but I think Bob Zemeckis and [producer Steven] Spielberg felt that they told the story in three episodes," he added. "But if somebody has a brilliant idea that would justify a fourth film it might happen."
In 2020, Tom Holland said that he's had "conversations" about remaking Back to the Future. Even though he was approached by an unnamed producer about reviving the franchise, he said it would be difficult because the movies are so highly regarded.
Fox's comments on the Back to the Future franchise come not long after he opened up about the difficulties of living with Parkinson's. “It’s been 30+ years, there’s not many of us that have had the disease for 30 years,” he shared with Jane Pauley for CBS Sunday Morning. “It sucks, it sucks having Parkinson’s. For some families it’s a nightmare, it’s a living hell. ... You don't die with Parkinson's. You die with Parkinson's. I'm not gonna be 80."
