Latest news with #BacktotheFuturePartII
New York Post
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘Back to the Future' screenwriter goes off over incessant spinoff rumors — reveals only way it would happen
You'll have to time travel in the DeLorean to relive 'Back to the Future.' According to franchise screenwriter Bob Gale, there won't be any more films following up the 1985 classic, the 1989 sequel 'Back to the Future Part II' and 1990's 'Back to the Future Part III.' After the 'Cobra Kai' finale featured an Easter egg that alluded to a television adaptation of the franchise, Gale, 73, who co-wrote and produced all three projects alongside co-creator Robert Zemeckis, shut down all speculation. Advertisement 9 Bob Gale attends Universal Fan Fest Nights Opening Night Event. Getty Images for Universal Studios Hollywood 'I don't know why they keep talking about that!' the writer exclaimed while at Universal Fan Fest Nights on Friday, per People. 'I mean, do they think that if they say it enough times, we're going to actually do it?' 'I mean, it's like they know in every interview people say, 'Oh Bob, when is there going to be a 'Back to the Future 4″?' Gale continued. 'Never. 'When is there going to be a prequel?' Never. 'When is there going to be a spinoff?' Never. It's just fine the way it is. It's not perfect, but as Bob Zemeckis used to say, 'It's perfect enough.'' Advertisement If another project in the franchise were to occur, it would take a lot of convincing for the film producer. 9 Bob Gale, Dean Cundey and Charles Croughwell attend the screening for 'Back to the Future' during the 2025 TCM Classic Film Festival. Getty Images for TCM 9 Bob Gale speaks onstage at the screening for 'Back to the Future' during the 2025 TCM Classic Film Festival. Getty Images for TCM 'If the juggernaut of corporate America or corporate international mishigas says, 'If you don't agree to this, we're going to kill your children,' alright, well, no, we don't want our children killed,'' teased Gale. 'But Steven Spielberg, of course, he's got to sign off on it, too. And Steven, just like Steven won't allow another 'E.T.,' he totally respects the fact that we don't want any more 'Back to the Future.' He gets it and always stood behind that. And thank you, Steven.' Advertisement What the 'Back to the Future' cast — including Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover — have created is more than enough for Gale. 'What's so great is seeing the next generation of kids that are being touched by this and [say], 'Gee, my parents were once kids,'' he gushed. 'That's why I think it keeps on going, because every kid comes to that realization at some point, and we made a movie about that. So I love the fact that people are newly discovering it.' 9 Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd in 'Back to the Future.' Universal Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection Although there are zero plans for a prequel, sequel or television show, the sci-fi adventure made its mark on Broadway with 'Back to the Future: the Musical.' Advertisement The show opened on Broadway in August 2023 after it debuted in London's West End. The play went on to win the Laurence Olivier Award for best new musical in 2022. The musical finished its Broadway run in January 2025 with 500 performances and $80 million worth of ticket sales, per producers. But the show is far from over. 9 Claudia Wells and Michael J. Fox in the sci-fi film. ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection In the last episode of 'Cobra Kai,' two men — the show's co-creators, Josh Heald and Jon Hurwitz — discussed the possibility of doing a 'Back to the Future' series at a bar. 'So the show would be set in Hill Valley, alternate 1985,' Hurwitz explained. 'All we need are Wilson, Thompson and Zane, and we've got the green light.' 9 Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox in 'Back to the Future.' ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection 'Billy's a friend,' Heald responded. 'Guy did an art piece for my foyer. It's an easy call to make. I feel like why not get Crispin, too? Maybe Mike to direct? We can blow this thing up.' The exchange wasn't meant to be a reveal of anything in the works. Advertisement 'That's just us having fun,' Hurwitz told People at SCAD TVfest in February. 'We know that the 'Back to the Future' franchise is something that's very closely guarded — and for good reason. If they ever decided they wanted to have a sequel series, then we'd be all-in.' Meanwhile, this isn't the first time Gale has made it clear that he isn't looking to revive the time travel franchise with a fourth film. 9 Michael J. Fox in 'Back to the Future.' ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection The comic book writer jokingly told Yahoo Entertainment in February, 'People always say, 'When are you going to do 'Back to the Future 4?' And we say, 'F – – k you.'' Advertisement These days, Gale is helping Fox, 63, write a book about his experience as the titular character, time traveler Marty McFly, in the movie. 9 Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox in 'Back to the Future.' ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection The book is set to be titled 'Future Boy,' but no other details have been disclosed. In 2023, Fox told Variety that there's no need for a 'Back to the Future' reboot, but teased: 'Do what you want. It's your movie. I got paid already.' Advertisement 'I don't think it needs to be,' the actor admitted. 'I think [Zemeckis has] been really smart about that. I don't think it needs rebooting because are you going to clarify something? You're going to find a better way to tell the story? I doubt it.' 9 'Back to the Future.' ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection Zemeckis, 72, also chimed in on if Universal Pictures ever asks him to make 'Back to the Future 4.' In October, he said during the 'Happy Sad Confused' podcast that the studio checks in 'every six months,' which was 'just an exaggeration.' Advertisement 'You know, we have to say, 'There are different things that might work.' Something like that, you know? But to remake the movie or to suggest that there's a 'Back to the Future 4,' it just isn't in the cards,' Zemeckis shared. 'I would like to do the 'Back to the Future: the Musical' [movie]. I would love to do that. I think that would be great. I floated that out to the folks at Universal. They don't get it. So, [there's] nothing I can do.' The original film is just three months away from a major milestone — celebrating its 40th anniversary in July.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
World's first flying car hops over vehicle in public test
A US startup has demonstrated an airborne vehicle that it claims to be the world's first flying car. Alef Aeronautics released a video of its Model Zero prototype flying over a parked car on a public road in California, marking the first real-world test of the design concept. 'This drive and flight test represents an important proof of technology in a real-world city environment,' said Alef Aeronautics chief executive Jim Dukhovny. 'We hope it will be a moment similar to the Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk video, proving to humanity that new transportation is possible.' Most 'flying car' startups use a similar design to quadcopter drones, with external rotor blades setting them apart from current road-going cars. Others have adopted fold-down wings, which require a lot of space to take off. The Alef Model Zero has a more conventional automotive design, which hides the rotor blades within the chassis of the car. The startup said its 100 per cent electric car has a driving range of 320 kilometres and a flight range of around 160km. Founded in 2015 – the same year flying cars were envisioned in the 1989 sci-fi film Back to the Future Part II – Alef Aeronautics hopes to eventually produce a vehicle that is 'affordable for most people, not just the rich'. The company has already secured more than 3,300 pre-orders for its Model A vehicle, which is expected to enter production later this year. A manufacturing agreement to fulfil these orders has already been reached with PUCARA Aero and MYC, a joint venture that has produced aviation-grade parts for Airbus and Boeing. Prices for Alef's Model A start at around $300,000 (£237,000), though a second flying car dubbed the Model Z is expected to cost around $35,000. 'Designed to drive on the street, take off vertically when needed and fly overhead above traffic, we're building the solution to the issues of modern congestion,' the company's website states. 'It fits into a regular driving lane and conforms to all traffic regulatory conditions. Alef flying car fits into a regular parking space and inside a regular-sized garage.' Sign in to access your portfolio
The Independent
20-02-2025
- The Independent
Why you should visit this German city packed with Cold War curiosities and oddball festivals
In Chemnitz, you need to squint to find conventional beauty. Ambling toward my hotel on a frigid January night, I turn right at Brückenstraße and pass a strange sight that also happens to be the city's most well-known attraction - a gigantic 40-tonne bust of Karl Marx's head. His furrowed brow is arresting, while behind is an enormous stone frieze pronouncing 'Workers of the world, Unite!' in several languages. At the top of the street, my hulking 26-floor hotel – absurdly large for a city of under 300,000 people – looms ominously in the dark and resembles Biff Tannen's dystopian hotel-casino from Back to the Future Part II (but without the kitschy neon). Unconventional? Yes. But this curious city in Saxony – the 2025 European Capital of Culture, shared with the border-straddling Nova Gorica in Slovenia – is well aware of its unorthodox charm. 'An Eastern European city in a Western European country' is how it's frequently described to me. And with 223 projects and over 1000 events in the books for this year, there's plenty to look forward to. The third-largest city in Saxony behind Dresden and Leipzig and a busy industrial hub during the 19th and early 20th century, Chemnitz's smoking chimneys were flanked to the south by the Ore Mountains – one of the world's oldest mining regions. Invariably, it became one of Germany 's wealthiest cities. All of that changed, however, at the tail end of the Second World War, when Allied bombs rained down on the city, destroying 80 per cent of the city centre (the same percentage as the infamous firebombing of nearby Dresden). Seven years later in 1952, the East German government (GDR) decided to change Chemnitz 's name to Karl-Marx-Stadt (Karl-Marx-City), despite Marx himself having never stepped foot in the city. Two decades after that – in a show of thunderous Cold War hubris – the quixotic government decided what the locals needed was a colossal stone head of the Das Kapital author. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and German reunification, 76 per cent of the city's inhabitants voted to revert to the old name of Chemnitz. In 2025, the city is an intriguing hodgepodge of architectural styles, from the blocky and functional Eastern Modernism ('Ostmoderne') so favoured by the GDR's socialist urban planning model, to the ornate and ostentatious Art Nouveau townhouses lining the well-heeled Kaßberg neighbourhood that somehow evaded the Allies' bombs. 'It is a very interesting style of architecture here,' says Lydia Tannenhauer-Schnabl, consultant in the Chemnitz Department of Urban Development. 'We don't have a beautiful old town, the only really old building left is the red tower, which is part of the old Medieval city wall. The rest of the infrastructure and architecture is fractured. Some people say it's ugly, others just say it's Chemnitz's style.' I rather like how the city's Cold War relics have become oddball attractions, and one of the most prominent is the 300m-high power plant chimney known locally as the Lulatsch, meaning 'beanpole'. Completed in 1984, it was given colourful rings of paint by French artist Daniel Buren (and might well be the world's tallest work of art). Speaking of art, there are several superb museums in Chemnitz, with the handsome Museum Gunzenhauser housing over 380 works by German New Objectivity artist Otto Dix and the restored Art Nouveau Villa Esche – once briefly a Stasi base – acting as an elaborate homage to the Belgian artist and architect Henry Van de Velde. More wide-ranging is the Purple Path, an art and sculpture trail that links all 38 municipalities in the Chemnitz region (yes, it's not just the city that gets a bite of the Capital of Culture apple). A cursory glance at Chemnitz's 2025 cultural calendar reveals a playful side, too, with some bizarre festivals lined up for the summer. Hutfestival in late May sees locals donning all manner of peculiar hats; Slackfest in August is a showcase for slackliners (similar to tightrope walking); and Chemnitz's fifth Steampunk Festival brings a dose of retrofuturism to the city in June. On this lively January weekend, I'm invited to the opening celebrations inside the sublime Opera House where various dignitaries speak in platitudes and pristine theatrical performances draw much applause. 'For a long time Chemnitz was a city in the shadows,' says Mayor Sven Schulze. 'A city with open wounds that people consciously ignored. But it is also a city of reinvention. Allow yourself to be surprised by our creativity.' On a bone-chilling evening outside, the Karl Marx monument is engulfed by a brightly-lit stage as various German music acts perform to 80,000 people with that mesmerising stone face providing a ghostly backdrop. I hop from one foot to another in a futile effort to stay warm, while lasers crisscross and the crowd basks in an unlikely spotlight. The soothing embrace of a local Saxon pilsner doesn't help stave off the chill but the evening is a success. Things warm up at the labyrinth-like Weltecho, an ornate club, cinema and courtyard on the fringes of the city centre. A jazz band's groove gets a crowd dancing downstairs while upstairs a permed MC bounces around onstage with his curls popping out beneath a blue baseball cap. This is much more my scene. And such is the male Gen Z penchant in 2025 for moustaches, mullets and loose-fitting clothes, that it feels as if I've had a window into the old GDR days of the 1980s here without ever having to enter a museum. It's a rousing night. As Chemnitz thaws, expect things to become even livelier.
