Back To The Future Bits: The Final Round-Up Of Videos, Stories, Goodies & Celebrations
Yes, we're aware that we've been going pretty crazy with all the Back to the Future coverage here at /Film, but that's because we're all such genuine fans of the entire film franchise from director Robert Zemeckis and writer Bob Gale. That made Back to the Future Day last week a lot of fun to experience, but there was so much going on that it was difficult to keep up with all the festivities, promotions and celebrations.
That's why we rounded up another slew of stories to check out on Back to the Future Day this past Wednesday, and that's why we're delivering this final Back to the Future Bits round-up full of facts, news, goods and celebrations you might have missed in all the commotion that happened on October 21st, 2015.
The final installment of Back to the Future Bits includes these stories:
Header image: Scott C. delivered another Great Showdown inspired by Back to the Future Part II.
USA Today's special issue released on October 22nd to commemorate Back to the Future Part II resulted in some big sales for the newspaper. THR reports the issue that featured the movie-themed wrap around made to look like the issue from the future in the sci-fi sequel sold at least 17,000 issues online and sold out at tons of locations around the country. The exact number sold won't be known until next week, but it's safe to say it'll be significantly more than the normal sales for USA Today.
In addition to selling newspapers, Back to the Future also sold a lot of movie tickets on Wednesday. Back to the Future made $1.65 million at the domestic box office on October 21st, 2015, which is enough to make it the highest grossing film of the day above The Martian. Worldwide, Back to the Future pulled in $3.2 million, and in Germany, all three films took the top three spots in the box office, accounting for 38% of the market share that day. Find out more about the box office numbers around the world in THR's full report right here.
This guy wins Halloween with his hovering Marty McFly costume (via Imgur).
A custom LEGO company called Brick Forge has put together a Kickstarter to manufacture a bunch of minfigure accessories to add to your Back to the Future LEGO set featuring Doc, Marty and the DeLorean time machine. Accessories include pieces from 1955, 1985 and 2015, ranging from the wooden scooter Marty turns into a skateboard to Marty's video camera to a Pepsi Perfect. The project needs to hit $20,000 to move forward and currently sits at nearly $6,500. So if you want some of the cool LEGO accessories above, go donate to the Kickstarter right here.
Doc Brown's DeLorean time machine could be driven with a remote control, but some smart folks at Stanford have taken things one step further by creating an electric, self-driving DeLorean:
And the vehicle has appropriate been named MARTY, or Multiple Actuator Research Test bed for Yaw control. Yeah, that's a stretch, but it's a DeLorean that can drive itself. [TechCrunch]
Tom Wilson may not be happy about the comparisons being made between the alternate 1985 version of Biff Tannen in Back to the Future Part II and presidential candidate Donald Trump (even though it's Bob Gale who says the character was inspired by the real-life mogul), but he did take the time to say where his inspiration for the character came from. In a rare interview with THR about Back to the Future, Wilson says:
"A thin and sickly kid, I was pushed around and beaten up by bullies throughout my childhood, until I grew bigger than everybody and it stopped. I knew very well how they operate, and specifically the joy they take in scaring people. I'd stared them in the face so often that it wasn't particularly challenging to do an impression."
Read more about Wilson's relationship with Back to the Future right here.
バックトゥザフューチャーカフェ行った！
マイケルJフォックスは私の初恋❤ pic.twitter.com/mYsQzuG6Ev— mamy (@m623e) October 18, 2015
There are five Back to the Future cafes, like the one seen above, open in Japan. Check out images from some of the other themed restaurants over at That's Nedalicious.
Watch this lost 1989 commercial for Mattel's hoverboard before it was pulled from shelves:
With all the Back to the Future nostalgia on display this week, you might find yourself wanting to visit some of the iconic locations where the time travel adventure was shot. Thankfully, Curbed Los Angeles has put together a map of locations you can check out in California, from Hill Valley High School to Doc Brown's garage to the McFly household. Plan a Back to the Future road trip!
The above comic from CommitStrip explains why Doc and Marty never arrived in 2015 this week.
Mashable has a great story on how Back to the Future saved the DeLorean from becoming a car lost to obscurity.
Beyond the Marquee shows what it was like to celebrate Back to the Future Day on the Universal Pictures lot:
Hopefully more behind the scenes footage from the We're Going Back celebration surfaces soon
Above you'll find 11 things you probably didn't know about Back to the Future from i09:
Back to the Future Day was a huge hit around the world as Entertainment Weekly has learned that 27 million people produced 45 million posts, comments and likes on Facebook tied to Back to the Future Day. In addition, 1 million people around the world RSVP'd for 6,200 Back to the Future themed Facebook events. The United States, Mexico, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Canada were the top countries talking about Back to the Future.
Courtesy of Rockyrama, you can listen to Bob Gale reminisce about Back to the Future for 11 minutes.
Just in case you're worried that all this love for Back to the Future will get Universal interested in some kind of remake of the classic, a report from Deadline reiterates that won't happen without the approval of Robert Zemeckis. And as we know, that will only happen literally over his dead body.
Finally, The Onion examines how Reagan-era economics effected the characters of Back to the Future: