I'm sure you all have many questions, as do I.  But allow me to address each of these individually with what little additional info I have:

FEATURE FILMS

Naturally, this project is always my biggest concern as it has been since the early '90s, and judging from our emails we receive from our readers, it is of primary interest and concern to most of you too.  This is the first inclination we've received since late December that plans are still in place to move forward in getting one or two more films into development.  It's very interesting, that even as recent as May 6, there has been some active attempt to bring the series back for a fourth and perhaps fifth chapter.

At this time, I haven't a clue who the new screenwriter is, nor what has happened to the script that was supposedly the clincher last December which had supposedly prompted the studios to inch towards a January announcement that never came.  At the time, I was certain that the unnamed screenwriter was Bob Gale, but no one ever confirmed my hunch one way or the other.  Here's what our anonymous scooper told me word-for-word back last December:

"Amblin will be making a formal announcement the first week of January, revealing that BTTF4/5 is in development.  You'll most likely see this all across the Coming Attractions, Aint It Cool News, etc. websites at that point, corroborating what I've told you.  The statement will most likely name the new writer (whose name I cannot divulge just yet, but you've definitely heard of him — hint, hint) and the production team that's assembling for the project.  The new writer has introduced a script he had already written (hint, hint), which Amblin is very keen on.  It echoes the young Doc Brown story very strongly, from what I've been told. I, personally, haven't even seen it yet."

"I'm not too sure about Zemeckis' and Spielberg's other projects at the moment.  I've read about their upcoming projects like anyone else, but BTTF4/5 will be showing up quite soon in the trades."

"The new script is being polished over at Amblin and will be making its way to Universal very shortly, from what I hear.  Robert Zemeckis, however, will not be directing the film.  I repeat: not directing the film.  He will serve as exec producer with three other names, but the front-runner for the job of director looks to be a man named Joe Johnston."

"At the moment, BTTF4/5 would hit screens in 2002 and 2003, respectively.  A long time to wait, to be sure, but there are worse things — like not having a BTTF film at all!"

I might add that it is possible that this is the same writer we were told about in December, and for whatever reasons, there was a delay in signing the writer on officially.  It's highly plausible that the script was more along the lines of being a treatment instead, and that the writer has only recently been signed on to turn the treatment into a full-fledged script.  Then again, who knows?

For now, the identity of this new writer primarily remains a mystery.  Let's just pray that whomever it is has a firm grasp on the series' concept and what makes it tick for audiences and the hard-core fans.  Maybe the 5th (or 6th?) time is the charm, and a quality sequel or two will finally materialize.

It is quite refreshing to see that the powers-that-be are approaching this the right way, and insisting that Zemeckis be involved in some capacity.  My thoughts are that Zemeckis will indeed never return to the director's chair for another BTTF film, given the success he's achieved since BTTF3 ended.  I am glad to see that the executives would be content to have him serve as Executive Producer, which should be a much more feasible task and obtainable goal, and seems to have been the plan for quite some time.

TELEVISION

Yes, you're right — you haven't read about any television project on BTTF.com before.  That's not because we didn't know about it though, as we were informed about plans for a TV series last December 2nd.  However, I opted to hold off from running any news regarding this aspect until a few more details emerged first.  And now seven months later, this is the first new piece of news we've heard, and interestingly enough, appears to be the last.  But let me back up a bit, and fill you in on what we had heard back in December regarding these plans.  Here's what our original anonymous tipster had to say:

"If BTTF4/5 does not go into production as a feature film, here's a brand-new nugget for you: Universal's television branch has immediate first rights to the property.  The production company gets first rights in the event that the parent company reneges on making it at all.  What does this mean?  Well, first of all, it's kind of an unusual move, but is extremely smart and extremely interesting to the BTTF fan.  The film would go to the television division where they'd have full access to the script and concept to develop a series.  That's right.  If BTTF4/5 doesn't get made in the production window expected, there will be a live action BTTF shunted into immediate development."

I must admit, I'm not terribly sad to hear this news.  To me, Back to the Future just doesn't lend itself to a weekly television series in the syndicated market, given all of the circumstances in recent years regarding the cast & crew.  A weekly series would no doubt require recasting of most, if not all, critical roles in the series.  While syndicated sci-fi series certainly seem to work for other franchises (i.e. Star Trek), I'm afraid that the quality we've all come to love and expect would be entirely gone, especially if none of the original cast were available for such a committment, and if none of the creative crew were actively involved.  Perhaps a weekly series would work best following whatever circumstances are set forth in the next film(s), but right now, it's just not right, and I'm sort of glad to know that Universal's television division has purged those plans from their slate for now.

VIDEO

This portion of the report just solidifies the information we heard elsewhere across the web yesterday.  Hopefully, the Christmas 2000/January 2001 target will stick this time.

I do understand that it would be very costly for the studios to "fix" the Eric Stoltz footage into a presentable presentation.  After all, this would simply be raw footage that has no score, sound effects, visual/special effects, etc., and editing that footage to make it presentable would indeed be very costly if they did it for all existing material.  My proposal was to only do it for one scene, where the viewer could do a side-by-side comparison of one specific scene with Eric Stoltz and Michael J. Fox, perhaps in the Twin Pines Mall parking lot.  Oh well, the quest for the elusive Stoltz footage will no doubt continue ahead for many anxious fans.

THE RIDE

Other than the upcoming release of the DVDs, this project certainly seems the most promising at the moment.  Unfortunately, I haven't been given any further details than what you read above.  I do not know which cast members, if any, will appear in this new film; where it is being shot; what the storyline entails; nor whom is responsible for writing or directing this one.  I've got my feelers out on this one, tapping every contact I've got to see what they've heard, but so far, it has been news to just about everyone I've contacted.  If they know any details at all, they're not talking about them yet.  Hopefully, those details will emerge soon enough.

It is quite interesting to hear that Sony Imageworks has supposedly been tapped to do the special effects.  You'll remember them as the folks who brought Michael J. Fox's Stuart Little to life last Christmas, so the digital work they'll be bringing to the project should be top-notch.

VIDEO GAMES, ETC.

I'll admit it — I'm completely baffled on the games.  There supposedly had been two games in development; one at Byron Preiss Multimedia and another at Acclaim Entertainment, Inc.  This report makes it sound as if there are a total of three, but that one has now gone by the wayside.  If a Dreamcast version isn't coming out until 2002, and the completed CD-ROM is finished but gathering dust, it sounds like we won't see either one of these anytime soon.  Perhaps the developer is waiting to piggie-back onto another BTTF marketing deal, so maybe we'll see the finished game soon after the DVDs hit store shelves.