9 Bizarre Early Drafts That Nearly Destroyed Your Favourite Films

1. Back To The Future Was Depressing As Hell

There are many qualities that make Back To The Future great. For a start, it's a brilliant family film €“ the kind of movie that everyone can sit around and enjoy together. The conflict is weighty without being excessively dark, the overall tone is light and spontaneous and there's a ton of dumb but legitimately funny humour. That's not to mention the fact that it handles its sci-fi details relatively well, introducing these elements with coherence and in-world logic. The first draft of the film, however, contained practically none of this. For a start €“ and in some kind of horrifying product placement fever dream €“ the time machine is powered by delicious Coca-Cola. The reason? Nobody knows what Coke's secret formula is, which means it must contain the chemical make-up and energy required to power an actual piece of futuristic technology. If you think that's bad, there's also the fact that Marty and Doc Brown run an illegal video bootlegging operation, the DeLorean was a glorified refrigerator and Doc Brown (who is actually Professor Brown) owns a monkey named Shemp. I won't even mention the fact that it's actually the government that kill Doc Brown or that there's no Hill Valley.