Fans of the iconic Back to the Future recently got some exciting news, as it was confirmed that co-creator Bob Gale is diving into the franchise’s archive for a new book titled Back to the Future: The Complete Screenplay, which hits shelves later this year in celebration of the movie’s 40th anniversary last year. “This is going to be really instructional about how movies are made, how scripts are written,” Gale said in an interview. “The mistakes are in there, the deleted scenes are in there, the stuff that we changed, stuff that we thought we were going to do that we didn’t do. It’s chock full of stuff like that.”
It’s hard to believe that director Robert Zemeckis‘ timeless time-travel adventure is now turning 41 years old, with the film holding up perfectly on a re-watch. This is thanks in no small part to the chemistry between Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, with the former earning his big-screen breakthrough fresh out of the TV series Family Ties. Back to the Future was followed by a more ambitious and arguably even better sequel in 1989, which earned an impressive $332 million at the global box office, against a reported budget of just $40 million.
It took four years for a sequel to hit theaters, but only 1 year for the threequel to make its big-screen splash, with Back to the Future Part IIIreleased in May 1990. Sadly, this third film, which takes the sci-fi tale into the Western genre, couldn’t hit the same heights as its predecessor, earning just $244 million on the same budget. 36 years later, this less-favored third installment is a streaming hit, officially ranking as one of the ten most-streamed movies on HBO Max in the world.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky
Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🏜️Paul Atreides
🖖Capt. Kirk
✊Princess Leia
🔦Ellen Ripley
🔥Max Rockatansky
01
How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.
02
What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.
03
What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.
04
How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.
05
You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.
06
What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.
07
How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?
08
When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.
Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
Arrakis · Dune
Paul Atreides
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.
USS Enterprise · Star Trek
Captain Kirk
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.
The Rebellion · Star Wars
Princess Leia
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.
You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.
The Nostromo · Alien
Ellen Ripley
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.
The Wasteland · Mad Max
Max Rockatansky
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.
Michael J. Fox Is Back in the Awards Conversation
The Back to the Future franchise simply wouldn’t be the same without Fox’s Marty McFly, with this performance one of the most memorable in sci-fi history. Sadly, due to Parkinson’s Disease, he officially retired in 2020. In the most heartwarming news from the 78th annual Primetime Emmy Award nominations on Wednesday, Fox earned his first nomination since 2016, marking an eighteenth career nod, in the Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category. This is thanks to a brilliant turn in the Apple TV hit Shrinking, which earned a total of 10 nominations.
Back to the Future Part III is a streaming hit. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for more streaming stories.
