Here’s something you probably didn’t know unless you’re a huge nerd (my term for people that know something I didn’t):  Marty McFly in Back to the Future was originally played by Eric Stoltz.  Stoltz is a fine actor in his own right (I’ll always remember his manic drug dealer, Lance, in Pulp Fiction) but Zemeckis didn’t think he was right for McFly and had him replaced with Michael J. Fox– five weeks into production.

Details of the shocking Hollywood switch and never-before-seen footage of Stoltz as McFly are part of the extras package for the “Back to the Future 25th Anniversary Trilogy” to be released on Blu-Ray on Oct. 26. [and which will receive a limited engagement theatrical run courtesy of AMC]
Zemeckis says the casting change was “this horrific decision; it was heartbreaking for everybody.”
Executive producer Steven Spielberg said that Zemeckis consulted him before pursuing the casting change.

“(Zemeckis) showed me the first five weeks of shooting that he had put together,” Spielberg said. ” And he said, ‘I just don’t think we’re getting the laughs I was hoping we would get.’ ”

Spielberg said he realized his director “was absolutely correct.” [THR]

To understand just how ballsy this is, imagine telling your boss you screwed up and wasted five weeks of work.  It’s impressive for everyone involved that they cared that much.  And it makes it all the more insane that someone watched Paul Walker in the dailies for The Fast and the Furious and thought, “Eh, f*ck it.  This movie’s about cars, right?”

(video after the jump)

As you can see from this previous, dorktastically elaborate re-enactment of Superman II, the new coolest thing is work a popular movie into your wedding or proposal.  The only drawback is part where you have to actually get married (yuckzers!).  Not to be outdone, Google engineer Corey Goldfeder, which isn’t a nerdy name at all, planned an elaborate, Back to the Future-themed proposal. (*gets down on one knee*) Will you block quote me, Ultimate Proposal Contest?

Andrea and I met at a costume party. She was dressed in a 1950′s poodle skirt, and I came as Marty McFly from “Back to the Future”, so it was clearly a match made in heaven.

I took Andrea to a showing of “Back to the Future,” which was being presented as part of a Michael J. Fox retrospective at a film festival in a historic local theater. We had planned this date for months had tickets long in advance, which was unnecessary since the film festival didn’t actually exist.

In reality, I had rented out the theater, and the movie showing was to be the scene of a surprise proposal. The manager was a bit of a romantic, and he was happy to help with supporting details like adding “Back to the Future” to the theater’s marquee and getting someone to man the popcorn machine. About 20 friends and acquaintances of mine that Andrea didn’t know came to sit in the theater so that it wouldn’t look suspiciously empty.

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This is just your basic Korean commercial for fried chicken from the 80s starring Robocop and featuring music from Back to the Future.  Robocop comes through the television, gets one taste of delicious fried chicken, and steals the family’s refrigerator.  Robocop is generally seen as kind of a dick in Korea. Though to be stolen from by him is considered a great honor.

Additional Note: I’m about 80% sure Robocop came in and said, “Oh, what the hell fried chicken.”

[Daily What via /Film]

There was a 3D Entertainment Summit this weekend in Century City, which for the most part was a big circle jerk about how awesome 3-D is.  Some of the more substantive info was that making a 3-D picture costs the studio about $15 million extra, and that, according to CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, Dreamworks plans to charge about $5 extra for tickets to 3-D features, beginning with Monsters vs. Aliens in 2009.

When reached for comment, one of the thugs in Back to the Future just chuckled to himself, muttering “Suckers.”  In related news, Gary Busey announced plans begin screening 4-D movies in his basement.  He says he’ll be charging $10 more for 4-D, but only until he pays off the tickle chair.

Actor Christopher Lloyd, most (only?) famous for the role of Doc Brown in Back to the Future, had his house in Montecito, California destroyed by the recent Southern California wildfire.

The house, Lloyd’s principal residence, was listed for sale in the spring of 2007 at $11.3 million but recently was withdrawn from the market while he made upgrades. He owns a second, smaller, home in Montecito that is still on the market for $3.6 million and was not affected by the blaze.
Lloyd’s fire-damaged property  is one of Montecito’s more unusual homes. The 5,500-square-foot main house has one bedroom, and there is a separate guesthouse. The house was built in 1972 from adobe bricks made on-site. And the living room and bedroom share an outdoor area with a large patio and stone-lined reflecting pool. [LA Times]

The “Tea Fire” which started at the privately owned Tea Garden Estate, about a mile north of Santa Barbara’s Westmont College, ripped through an area that Oprah Winfrey, Michael Douglas, Rob Lowe and other celebrities call home. [CNN]

I’m not going to make a Back to the Future joke here, because it would be way too obvious and everyone’s probably already beaten me to it.  And that’s messed up, the guy’s house burned down.  But I think I speak for everyone when I say: It should’ve been you, Oprah.