Eric Stoltz Could Have Been Marty McFly Before Michael J. Fox

A shocker of a news item in pop culture: Eric Stoltz was set to play the role of "Marty McFly" in 1985's Back To The Future until Director Robert Zemeckis realized that the crew wasn't getting the laughs from his performance they sought.   (You can see a segment from the footage in the video above.)

According to EW's Popwatch, Zemeckis and staff trashed the five weeks of filming done with Eric Stoltz, got Michael J. Fox to play the role, redid the entire five weeks of shooting, and the rest is cinema history.

Fox was then the star of the situation comedy called Family Ties, where Fox played the conservative Alex P. Keaton. While he and Family Ties was popular, Fox's version of Marty McFly gave him a permanent place in popular culture due to the success of the Back to the Future Trilogy.

All of this is in the Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Trilogy collection due October 26. But the unanswered question is would Back To The Future have been as successful with Eric Stoltz, even with his comedy timing problems? Apparently it's safe to note that if Eric Stoltz had remained as Marty McFly, there would not have been a Back to the Future II or Back to the Future III.

But in fairness to Stolz, it just wasn't his role; he went on to critical acclaim in The Mask.

Back To The Future A California Story

For this blogger, Back To The Future is really a story of Mill Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. The town of "Hill Valley" was really Mill Valley, complete with the town square. In fact, Hill Valley was designed as a fictional California town in the movie. The film, as a result, has what was intended: the feel of a small California town and culture.