There is only a handful of films that are universally accepted as perfect. Back To The Future is one of them. Already archived in the Library of Congress, the film is truly an entertainment treasure. It all begins with its title, backed up by those iconic flaming tire tracks, making it instantly recognizable. But Back to the Future was almost derailed into being called something totally different if not for Steven Spielberg and a humorous case of misdirection.
Back To The Future was written and produced by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, who also directed. It follows teenaged hero, Marty McFly, who ventures back to the 1950s in a DeLorean time machine, only to get stuck and need help from his future friend (and the man who later builds it), Doc Brown, to get home to 1985. Marty must also keep the younger version of his mom from falling in love with him, instead of his future dad, a storyline the family-friendly Disney corporation felt was too scandalous, and motivated them to quickly pass on the film.
As the movie wound up into production, a producer named Sid Sheinberg with Universal, which was going to distribute the film, felt the script looked amazing. The only thing that kept it from being perfect was the title. Sheinberg sent a memo, revealed on Twitter, outlining his concerns that Back to the Future wasn’t going to connect or resonate with audiences, who would surely regard the film as a “cheap, old-fashioned, sci-fi flick.”
Sheinberg suggested Gale and Zemeckis change the movie’s name to Space Man From Pluto. He even listed helpful suggestions on how to change the script to support the title change. It certainly didn’t fuel the kind of creative excitement the filmmakers felt they already had with Back to the Future. Worse yet, it wasn’t the first time the suggestion had been made.
According to Gale, the memo arrived after several earlier, more casual suggestions for changing the title to Spaceman From Pluto, before Sheinberg seemingly made a formal one by putting it in writing. Uninspired by the suggestion and feeling pressured, Gale and Zemeckis turned to Steven Spielberg to help them out.
Sheinberg was already associated with the film’s executive producer after helping him get his big break in Hollywood as a director. As such, the decision to ask for intervention from Spielberg was the right one. According to Gale, he proclaimed, “I know just how to handle him,” when asked about Sheinberg.
Gale says Spielberg sent a return letter saying, "Hi Sid, thanks for your most humorous memo, we all got a big laugh out of it, keep ‘em coming." Seemingly too embarrassed to admit the idea was not in jest, Sheinberg never brought the name idea up again. While this change was avoided, much bigger ones were still in store.
There is no shortage of stories about changing movie titles with good results. From Pretty Woman being called 3000 (referencing $3000 a week for the cost of services) before later being traded for the Roy Orbison song title, or Revenge of the Jedi swapping in
"Return" at the last minute. But, in the case of Back To The Future, it looks like a name change would have been a move in the wrong direction.
Space Man From Pluto wouldn’t have added anything to the film, especially considering the plot has no connections to either space or Pluto. In hindsight, producers clearly made the right and obvious decision.