No, the 3D motion-simulator movie ride won't be coming back, but what Universal is said to be considering might be even better. The new Back to the Future attraction would be an encounter on the new nighttime version of the park's backlot Studio Tour and would recreate the climatic scene when Marty returns "back to the future" in the DeLorean time machine on the very spot where the scene was filmed.
With the television series that had been filming on Universal's Courthouse Square backlot set wrapping production, Universal is free to recreate the Back to the Future set on the site. (Some of the original Courthouse Square sets burned in the June 2008 backlot fire that destroyed the original King Kong attraction.) The plan is that Universal would transform Courthouse Square to its faux-1955 look from the 1985 movie, which would serve as a drive-by attraction in itself for visitors on the regular, daytime version of the Studio Tour. But the real action would happen at night.
For the nighttime tour, the trams would stop at Courthouse Square for a four-minute stunt show that would put Doc Brown on the top of the clock tower, fumbling to plug in the wire that he's rigged to cross the road on the side of the square. Marty McFly's DeLorean ultimately would speed past, and with a mix of pyro, lighting, and sound effects, blast back to the future.
In the past, Universal's staged its Studio Tour encounters (Earthquake, Jaws, Kong, etc.) in purpose-built sets separate from the production facilities on the backlot. After all, you can't film on sets if tourist trams are driving through all day, which is why the line-up of production sets visited by the trams changes on almost a daily basis. But it's not unheard of for productions to film on the encounter sets if needed (Earthquake, in particular), and with 2015 being the 30th anniversary of the original Back to the Future film, switching Courthouse Square over to its most famous form for the year could help support a promotional push for the franchise. Remember, 2015 is big in the Back to the Future franchise, as that's the year Marty travels to in the second film.
So Marty might be coming back to Hill Valley's Courthouse Square in 2015, after all. How cool would that be?
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BUT, if the above article comes true, I would probably purchase my first annual pass to USH.
This sounds like a great idea for the nighttime expansion of the Tram Tour. Having worked on the backlot numerous times, there is a different look and feel to that area once the sun has set. I was happy to see that HHN expanded to areas on the backlot in 2013.
I'm actually a little disappointed that I haven't heard anything regarding a special edition of the movie with updated graphics, special effects. Similar to the editions of Star Wars that everyone hates. But I thought it was a great idea, and some new effects, and updating of some key scenes would be awesome!
Great report by the way. This is why I have visited this site for a decade now.
That would be completely pointless. The scene was filmed at Universal Studios Hollywood and the sets are already standing. It would be an enormous cost for them to duplicate it in Florida.
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