5 things we learned from 'Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History'

Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History is full of rare and previously unseen behind-the-scenes photos from the productions of the beloved time travel trilogy as well as recreations of props used in the film, from the shot of Marty McFly and his two siblings to a poster for the fictional (so far!) movie sequel Jaws 19.

Written by Michael Klastorin (who was production publicist on the second two films) with Back to the Future expert Randal Atamaniuk, the book is also crammed with fascinating, hilarious, and, at times, sad tales from the set. We’ve collated the most memorable, below.

1. While prepping 1985’s original Back to the Future, co-writer and co-producer Bob Gale was informed the production had been offered $75,000 to switch scientist Doc Brown’s car from a Delorean to a Mustang. Gale’s response? “Doc Brown doesn’t drive a f—king Mustang.”

2. The list of actors initially considered for the role of Brown included Jeff Goldblum, James Woods, and Bill Cosby (think about that).

3. Actress Lea Thompson was not thrilled when Eric Stoltz was fired from the role of Marty McFly after almost six weeks of shooting on the first film and replaced by Family Ties star Michael J. Fox. “I was cranky,” she says. “There were movie actors and then there were TV actors, especially sitcom actors. The movie actors looked down on the sitcom actors.”

4. When Fox came to recreate his guitar-playing sequence from the first film in 1989’s Back to the Future Part II he found he “couldn’t move as well as I did [the first time].” The actor now believes he was probably already suffering from Parkinson’s.

5. President Ronald Reagan was offered the role of Hill Valley mayor in 1990’s Back to the Future Part III. Despite being a fan of the original film, Reagan declined.