Chapter 98: Entrapped Fox
Nonetheless, having a few stable faces to depend on meant that the Back to the Future he knows would still have its semblance on what Creed Pictures is producing.
Of course, as there are steady 'returnees' that stabilized things there are also inadvertent changes in the cast members to note as a variable to everything.
After all, the Butterfly effect is still in effect and it is bound to ruffle things up. It was up to Alexander to pick up on them and assess what they could mean for the Chaos Butterfly that is him.
There was Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Claudia Wells, Thomas Wilson, Wendie Joe Sperber, and possibly even Tiger on the reprisals that have happened.
They respectively represent Marty's sciency friend, Mother McFly, Marty's girlfriend, the McFly's Antagonists, Marty's sister, and Marty's dog friend.
Where is Marty himself? Or rather who would be playing Marty now that Michael Fox isn't in the rosters of 'returnee'?
Who would be replacing Father McFly now that Crispin Glover isn't in that reprisal roster as well?
Of course, there are still other casting changes and other Marty-related characters to be expounded but they are relatively quite forgettable for Alexander to keep track on.
It had to be said that among the many iconic characters of Back to the Future, Marty's brother and sister was already among the most forgettable characters and that was no offense for Wendie Sperber.
They were mostly fading in a picture after all and it would seem that they faded much more among the attention of Back to the Future fans.
Aside from Sister and Brother McFly, all the rest also happen to just be foils to employ the story and truly NPC-esque character to fulfill a certain role and for the protagonist to move.
This is why Alexander didn't cover his compare and contrast sessions with them much. However, there are still interesting side characters to note.
With those many other changed but relatively insignificant variables to be mostly out of the equation, Alexander was more directed towards the bigger factors that are in play when it comes to the film trilogy.
Marty McFly and George McFly make up quite a big significance to everything after all.
When Alexander finally read up on the casting list and double-check on the chosen actors for the past couple of days, he was able to get a glimpse more of what he had changed.
It was greatly interesting for him to say the least.
Out of curiosity, he tracked many of the casting events out from the casting director and finally got the full gist of how the new actor arrangements came to be.
In the end, Alexander could only feel amused at how everything worked out. Of course, Marty was still to be played by Michael J. Fox but there are a lot of factors that came into play and the Chaos Butterfly effect truly came into full motion.
Marty McFly was a greatly important piece of the Back to the Future puzzle after all and the delicateness of having a charismatic film lead and perfect actor is a priority.
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It had to be said, that Marty McFly's setting was a hip-looking kid that was skilled in using the electric guitar.
In the original version, Director Zemeckis and Screenwriter slash Producer Bob Gale wanted to have Michael J. Fox from 'Family Ties' play as Marty McFly. It was unfortunate for them but the schedule conflicts and Fox's settled and prior filming obligations turned their requests to moot.
Of course, the role eventually landed to Eric Stoltz but the Stoltz problem occurred. Eric wasn't really fit for the role and it made the overall feel of the filmed movie to be much more somber and gloomy than intended.
Given that Universal was being Universal, the original crew and major studio power enabled them to grab Fox to be able to play the part, while Stoltz was fired from the job but still kept his paycheck.
An actor debacle had happened and it was one of the major events that shook up the original production of Back to the Future.
With Stoltz out of the picture, Fox was in but he also had to share his work with the Family Ties crew. Family Ties and Universal worked out a deal, essentially making Fox take on two film sets at once.
It is said that Michael Fox had only a few hours of sleep from the arrangement that he mistook some of the props from BttF and Family Ties.
Despite all the trouble that Fox had to go through, he still won out in the end with a hit movie and a hit show.
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However, with Alexander's re-life intervention, everything had been changed up.
It wasn't that Fox was at the 'returnees' roster, he was still part of it but his career trajectory had been effectively changed.
The original BttF's final draft was finished in July 1984 and the principal photography was only in September 1984. However, the Creed version of the BttF was way earlier and way more efficient with the old Creed in the helm.
Just as how Sullivan was able to push Spielberg and Universal out of the way, the same could thing could be said to how Creed Pictures had snagged Fox for the role without much hesitation.
Before a new round of 'Family Ties' filming could begin, Old Sullivan had his 'new henchmen', Innovative Rob and Curious Bob, approached their favored Fox.
With big help from the little Creed's picture books and amazing script coherency, the duo was able to convince Michael Fox to sign after many deliberations and agreements with the 'Family Ties' crew
Thus, Fox had no schedule conflict and effectively let go of Family Ties. However, 'ties' with that TV show were still present and Fox still had some minimal but recurring episodes to be filmed as 'Alex P. Keaton'.
Essentially, Fox was still double-shifting two productions once again but Back to the Future had much more leeway than the other.
Creed Pictures wasn't exactly as swaying in many filming negotiations as Universal but they didn't need to make use of their studio power or begging power.
Sullivan's strategy was just to influence the actor that he was the only and best choice for an amazing film trilogy. From that, the influencing suggestion was given out to Fox, and Fox was left to do the negotiations for them.
As Michael Fox was integral to Family Ties, they also had to respect an actor's freedom to choose how his career would move forward.
A TV show is just a TV show after all and many actors would rather be on the big screen than on the small screen.
In the end, Family Ties could only relent with their favorable and accomodating conditions to co-Fox a TV show and a film trilogy.
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In all honesty, Alexander didn't really think that their production could ensnare the busy Fox. There are many limitations and restraints that they might as well have moved on to the next options.
It would seem that old Creed became an MVP once again as he effectively ensnared a cunning 'Fox' into his inescapable trap.
Perhaps only his grandfather could delicately trick an animal-esque surnamed 'Fox' man and then also appease his Rob and Bob subordinates with that entrapped 'Fox'.