Backlog
June 04, 1999
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May 26, 1999
May 21, 1999
May 15, 1999
May 12, 1999
May 04, 1999
©1995-99, To Be Continued...
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June 07, 1999
BTTF Sequels Moving Fourward
Competition getting thin as sequels progress to next stage
It's been a few weeks since we've heard from our mysterious scooper deep from within the inner sanctum wherein the creation of the next two chapters of the Back to the Future begins. However, I received a brief update overnight from our new friend with the latest news on the progress of the so-called BTTF 4/5 project, and this is what they had to report:
It's high time to write you, in light of a couple new developments in terms of the BTTF universe:
- First and foremost, I checked into the DVD of BTTF for you. There will be BTTF2 and BTTF3 DVD's in 2002. BTTF, however, was held up on account of a.) a holdout on the part of Steven Spielberg; and b.) legal wrangling on the part of Eric Stoltz. They've cleared up the Stoltz issue in the past few weeks, but in a disappointing way. None of the Stoltz footage will be included on the DVD supplement. Instead, the DVD will include some new interviews, music from the film, storyboards, and simple photos of Stoltz as McFly. That was the compromise. The BTTF DVD should be out — I'm told by a very reputable source — in the last quarter of 1999 (meaning Christmastime.)
- Ed Solomon turned in his treatments quicker than most people (including myself, I have to admit) imagined. The due date was June 15, but he turned them in around Memorial Day. They're still being reviewed by the script department.
- Some good news for the BTTF 4/5 project, though: the Quantum Leap project has fizzled out (it was something called Quantum Leapers and didn't involve Scott Bakula at all), with Magnum, P.I. on the outs, too. Seeing as this is the only Amblin-oriented project (BTTF), ie: I know about it, I can tell you that people are getting excited about the prospect of BTTF again.
- A new writer has been attached to the project — a man by the name of Charles S. Haas. I haven't looked into his credentials yet, but word came down last week that Mr. Haas would be handling the further development of BTTF4 and BTTF5, whatever it might be.
Thought you'd be interested.
Interested, indeed! It's great to see that the other two proposed projects won't be standing in the way for the development of the two sequels. Our scooper went on to tell me that they haven't been privy to the treatments as of yet, but that they did have some brief information pertaining to the time periods traveled to in the proposed sequels. Hopefully, we'll be able to pass along that information to you in the near future!
I'm quite puzzled as to the direction being taken with new writers being involved in the series which has been until this time, dominated by Bob Gale. I'm hoping that Gale will be asked to step in and act as a co-writer or an Executive Producer. I have to admit that I wasn't familiar with Charles S. Haas, but a few database searches turned up that he has written several films in the past, most notably Amblin's 1990 sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. I'm unclear at this time as to whether Charlie Haas is the other writer our scooper told us about on May 15 who was assigned to the project, but I'm assuming he is one and the same. It's also unclear as to whether Ed Solomon will have any further involvement in the project beyond what he has already turned in.
Now that we know that Solomon turned in his treatments two weeks early, this may indicate that the scoop we received from Cinema Confidential may have had more truth to it than what we had realized. We also have learned that Total Film plans to publish an update to their report in their next issue due to recent developments on the project.
Let's just hope that our scooper's previous report of Summer 2001 and Christmas 2001 for the two sequels will remain on track, and that the powers-that-be at Universal will not drag their feet on getting these films into development. Those release dates would make sense, as should either one of the sequels open up in the Summer of 2002, it could get swallowed by Star Wars Episode 2, which is reportedly due to open then.
Stay tuned, my fellow time travel volunteers — it's just now starting to get interesting!
Project updates
MAN ON THE MOON:
Dark Horizons reports this morning that Universal will release this film randomly into theaters with three different endings, and that moviegoers will not know which ending they'll be seeing until they reach the theater. The only other time this has ever been done before was in 1985 on Universal's comedy Clue!, which also happened to co-star Christopher Lloyd.
WHAT LIES BENEATH:
Dark Horizons also reports today that Robert Zemeckis' eagerly awaited film will be filmed in Addison County, Vermont, shooting a number of scenes around a lakeside home that will be built in DAR State Park specifically for the film, and that the house will have "movable walls".
JUMANJI 2 / MYSTERIOUS ISLAND:
Ain't It Cool News reports that Ken Ralston's next gig following Jumanji 2 will be a remake of Mysterious Island. I know we've reported that Ralston would be directing this remake sometime in the past from a previously published report, although I do not remember when. AICN goes on to report that he may yet get to helm Dinotopia after these two projects have been completed.
— Stephen Clark
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