Home The Arts Back To The Future Recast Because Test Audiences Didn’t Believe Eric Stoltz Wouldn’t Fuck His Mom

Back To The Future Recast Because Test Audiences Didn’t Believe Eric Stoltz Wouldn’t Fuck His Mom

by Daniel

It’s one of the most infamous recasting of all time and, today, we finally got real clarity on the reasoning behind it. Footage of Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly sat on the shelf for years before it finally saw the light of day in a recent bluray release. Still, many had unanswered questions about this major recasting of such an iconic film.

Accosted at a Van Nuys Starbucks, Director Robert Zemeckis revealed that the primary catalyst behind the recasting was a test screening in which audiences were shown footage from early in the film. “The film really only works if the audience believes Marty won’t or can’t reciprocate his mother’s romantic affection. And, for whatever reason, they didn’t believe Eric Stoltz.” said Zemeckis.

In one rather telling and unusual experiment that Zemeckis detailed, a small test audience was shown the first twenty minutes, just past Marty’s first encounter with his mother, and asked to envision the rest of the film. 9 out of 10 audience members assumed the next scene was “Marty fucking his mom.”

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