Key Takeaways

• Anniversary Celebration: Back to the Future marks its fortieth anniversary this year with a re-release in theaters.
• Title Controversy: The original title suggestion was Spaceman From Pluto, proposed by Universal’s Sid Sheinberg.
• Studio Dynamics: Sheinberg’s title suggestion was met with resistance from key figures like Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis.
• Legacy Impact: Despite controversies, Sheinberg played a significant role in Spielberg’s career development.

Back to the Future is celebrating its fortieth anniversary this year, and is due to be re-released in theatres on Friday (we also have some great BTTF interviews lined up for next week). Now, we all know the most notorious behind-the-scenes story: that original lead Eric Stoltz was replaced after a full seven weeks of filming by Michael J. Fox. But, it turns out that wasn’t the only bone of contention between the studio, Universal, and executive producer Steven Spielberg. In fact, the Universal Head of Production, Sid Sheinberg, the same man who greenlit Jaws (and indeed was an early mentor to Spielberg), hated the title Back to the Future. He worried that it made the film sound like too much of a “genre” film (to note – this was an era where sci-fi was far from a guarantee at the box office).

So, what did he suggest they rename it to?

Spaceman From Pluto.

Really, that’s what he wanted to call it. Indeed, this rather infamous suggestion (which Spielberg ignored) was suggested in a company memo sent from Sheinberg to Spielberg, with writer Bob Gale and co-writer/ director Robert Zemeckis cc’d (one can only imagine their reaction to the proposed title). In the memo, he wrote: “I am sure there will be those who would argue that the movie will appear to the audience to be a cheap, old-fashioned, sci-fi flick. Nonsense! I think it’s a kind of title that has heat, originality and projects fun. Most importantly, I think it avoids the feeling of a “genre” time-travel movie.”

So – Spaceman from Pluto, eh? To be fair to Sheinberg, it wouldn’t have been as random as one might think, as he proposed changing the line “I am Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan” to “I am a spaceman from Pluto”, and he also wanted the title of George McFly’s book at the end to be called “Spaceman from Pluto.” So, it kinda would have made sense. Still, it’s a terrible title. The next year, Sheinberg would find himself in two heaps of hot water, one when he feuded with Terry Gilliam over the final cut of Brazil (his recut, dubbed the “Love Conquers All” version, is so extreme that Criterion opted to preserve it as an example of studio notes gone awry), as well as green-lighting Howard the Duck. Then again, without Sheinberg, there’s arguably no Steven Spielberg, so you take the good with the bad.

What do you think of the title Spaceman from Pluto? Let us know in the comments.