10 Behind-The-Scenes Dramas That Failed To Derail Famous Movies

6. Back To The Future Survived Its Lead Actor Being Fired & Everything ReShot Weeks Into Filming

Back to the Future Doc Marty
Universal Pictures

Marty McFly is the role that defined Michael J. Fox's career, and without it, his face wouldn't be one of the most recognisable in Hollywood history.

It very nearly didn't pan out this way though. Fox was the first choice for the role, but was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts with his TV show, Family Ties.

This led to Eric Stoltz being cast instead, but after a few weeks of filming, director Robert Zemeckis realised that Stoltz was not right for the part. The actor wasn't bringing the zany energy Zemeckis expected, and while he was a fine dramatic actor, he couldn't handle the film's wacky tone.

Soon after, Fox's schedule had cleared up and he became available, but even though the film now had its leading man, it still faced a massive problem; having to reshoot the portion of the film that was already in the can.

This added several million dollars to the budget, and meant Zemeckis was forced to shoot scenes with Fox that he'd already shot with Stoltz. This was a creatively exhausting process - Zemeckis was essentially doing the same thing twice - but a necessary one.

In the end, Zemeckis was able to make his movie with the right leading man, and the result was one of the most beloved family movies of all time.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!