About Back to the Future

Michael J. Fox was the first choice to play Marty McFly, but he was committed to the show Family Ties.[7] Family Ties producer Gary David Goldberg felt that Fox was essential to the show\s success, particularly with costar Meredith Baxter on maternity leave, and refused to allow him time off to work on a film. Back to the Future was scheduled for May 1985 and it was late 1984 when it was learned that Fox would be unable to star in the film.[3] Zemeckis\ next two choices were C. Thomas Howell and Eric Stoltz, the latter of whom impressed the producers enough with his portrayal of Roy L. Dennis in Mask – which was yet to be released – that they selected him to play Marty McFly.[1] Because of the difficult casting process, the start date was pushed back twice.[8] Four weeks into filming, Zemeckis decided Stoltz was miscast. Although he and Spielberg realized reshooting the film would