“Back to the Future” co-writer Bob Gale responds to fans asking for fourth movie: 'F--- you'

A fourth movie? Where we're going, we don't need a fourth movie.

That's what Back to the Future co-creator Bob Gale thinks, anyway. The screenwriter discussed his thoughts on continuing the Back to the Future franchise during a press conference after the Saturn Awards on Sunday, where he and BttF stars Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson received the George Pal Memorial Award.

"People always say, 'Well, when are you guys gonna do Back to the Future 4?'" Gale said. "And we say, 'F--- you.' You can quote me on that."

Gale has no interest in continuing the series with any further films and explained that the fan appetite for more Back to the Future material led him and Robert Zemeckis, who co-wrote and directed the three movies, to instead adapt the original film into a new medium.

"We made three terrific movies, and people kept asking for more Back to the Future, so we made Back to the Future: The Musical, which Chris and Lea have attended on several occasions," he said. "We're taking it around the world."

Related: Lea Thompson had to 'warm up' to Michael J. Fox on Back to the Future after Eric Stoltz was fired

The screenwriter went on to enumerate all the locations around the world where the musical will soon debut, including Japan, Germany, and Australia. "My God, Back to the Future — I'm gonna be doing it for the rest of my life!" he exclaimed. "Who could ask for anything more?"

The original Back to the Future was the biggest movie of 1985, and its sequels, 1989's Back to the Future Part II and 1990's Back to the Future Part III, also became hits at the box office. Gale and Zemeckis have repeatedly stated that they have no desire to make another sequel.

However, Gale has helped extend the Back to the Future universe in a number of other projects in other media. He followed up the original trilogy with Back to the Future: The Animated Series, which ran from 1991 to 1993, and also assisted with Telltale's Back to the Future video game, which released in episodes in the early 2010s.

Related: Christopher Lloyd would 'love' to do a Back to the Future sequel, but Michael J. Fox is less enthusiastic

Gale and Zemeckis also co-wrote the short film "Doc Brown Saves the World," which appeared on the 30th anniversary BttF box set in 2015. The same year, Gale co-authored a Back to the Future comic book series for IDW.

Though neither Gale nor Zemeckis wants to make a fourth movie in the original series, the latter did leave the door open for another Back to the Future film.

"I would like to do Back to the Future: The Musical [as a movie]," Zemeckis said in an interview with Happy Sad Confused last year. "Just like [Mel Brooks] did with The Producers. I would love to do that. I think that would be great."

Related: Christopher Lloyd reunites with DeLorean time machine to reveal Back to the Future Broadway musical

Elsewhere in the Saturn Awards press conference, Gale reflected on what he'd tell his younger self if he had a time machine. "I've always said that if I walked into the offices that Bob Zemeckis and I had in the ’80s, and I said, 'Hey you guys, do you know what's gonna be going on in 2024?'" he said. "And I told ’em, they'd say, 'Old man, get the hell out of here, and what have you been drinking?'"

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Gale also recalled the Back to the Future sets with fondness. "We've always tried to treat it like we were all family," he said. "That was always the way that Bob Zemeckis and I ran the set. We learned everybody's names, we talked to everybody. And you can find people that worked on those movies, and they will say, almost unanimously, that the best experience they had was working on our movies, ’cause we just wanted to make it warm and friendly and creative. And it carries on."

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