Marty McFly: I'll take Shia Labeouf, too.
Doc Brown: Sam Lloyd
Lorraine Baines McFly: Zoey Deschanel
George McFly: Zach Braff
Biff Tannen: John C. McGinley in makeup? Or Casey Affleck. Just as long as Ashton Kutcher doesn't show up in this movie, I'm good.

Zach Braff is a good one for George... but i prefer Emily to Zooey...

Marty McFly: Shia Labeouf is a shoo in.
Doc Brown: Hugh Laurie
Lorraine Baines: Leighton Meester
George McFly: Was gonna say Tobey Maguire, but James McAvoy is a better choice
Biff Tannen: Actually, I dunno. Can't think of anyone with the physical qualities and comedy chops.

I love how the trailer shows absolutely nothing about the movie. In fact, it makes one of the greatest movies ever look like a B movie!

I don't know about Zooey...I love her lots, but her world-weary-for-her-years cynical vibe doesn't mesh with the character of Lorraine. Lorraine has a gleeful innocence about her "naughtiness": like, she's into sex and drinking and stuff, but seems like she really has no clue what they are all about, kind of like a pre-teen girl's fascination with a porno mag.

This is a really tough one! The characters are all so iconic, it's really hard to imagine anyone else capturing them correctly.

What about Haley Joel Osment for Marty? Shia's a little too... spastic. In fact he'd be better to play George McFly.

I'm torn between Bruce Campbell and Hugh Laurie for Doc. Bruce! would bring the off-kilter energy but Hugh could sell the Asperger-ish emotional disconnect.

Biff has to be a bulky jock type, Franco is too surfer cool.

I have no idea who Lorraine's gonna be. Prolly one of the Disney t.v. show rejects. Bleh.

Let’s say our remake is shooting for a 2010 release. If the new Marty is to travel 30 years into the past, he’ll land way back in the distant era of 1980.

Don't do that. It hurts.

I don't know enough young actors to suggest anything decent that hasn't already been said (maybe Justin Long—from the Mac vs. PC commercials—as George?), so I'll just add that at the dance, Marty should "invent" hip-hop, which the kids love, and give them a taste of gangster rap, which they don't know what to do with.

Since there's been no new posts for a bit in the Greatest American Hero thread, I'll say here that while watching BSG, it occurred to me that Jamie Bamber would make a great Ralph.

Do "The A-Team" next.

It is tough. Michael J Fox is a unique presence. MAJ has really thrown down the gauntlet. However, I do think Zooey can pull off Lorraine. My first thought was Sarah Paulson, but I suppose she is too old for the part.

Since we're stepping on hallowed ground (I'm wearing my newly acquired BTTF T-shirt as I type this):

Shia is a good choice for Marty.
For Doc Brown, I'm trying to think of an elder comedian to do the part and I keep coming back to George Carlin but that seems a tad unlikely. Stephen Fry might be an interesting choice as someone that's intelligent yet welcoming and very funny.

Can't really think of anybody for George/Lorraine/Biff because I haven't seen many young actors that have the chops to pull off such roles, although McAvoy is a good choice for George; nerdy seems to be something lacking in Hollywood these days (without being a Napoleon Dynamite-esque joke).

I doubt they'll be able to resist releasing a remake in 2015, wherein our hero travels back to 1985. It's just too obvious for Hollywood not to do it.

My favorite moments of Spider-Man 3 are when Franco is being a complete bastard, but I still don't see it. Biff Tannen is a bully -- big, dumb, angry and mean. Franco can be evil, but I don't think he can be a bully.

It just so happens that I could play all the parts, as I have this movie memorized...quite by accident.

Marty McFly: Michael Cera (though I like the idea of Shia LeBouf too)
Doc Brown: Michael Caine
Lorraine Baines McFly: Rachel McAdams
George McFly: Jon Heder
Biff Tannen: I'm stumped. Franco's a little bit wiry, or something, but I can't think of anything better.

i know he's a tiny bit older than perhaps Biff would be (but he looks so good) but how about Brendan Fraser? i think he'd be hilarious.

Brenden Frasier? Are you high? He's way too old to play a high school student.

I think Amber Tamblyn as Lorraine is a good call or Ellen Page. As for the others, who can replace Fox? I think MacAvoy would be good as Marty or George, with my preference leaning toward Marty. As for Doc Brown, I like Hugh Laurie. I like his crusty quirkiness and think it would be a good fit.

No comment on the others.

Ellen Page? Now that's a good suggestion.

But aren't we forgetting the other central character of BTTF?

What is the time machine going to be?

I know that by 2010/2015 (yes, it should be released in 2015, as far as I'm concerned, that whole year is BTTF with October 21st being a huge party) there'll be new cars to use but what cars today would make a good time machine? Something unique, with character and would fit into a futuristic look for the 80's.

Good question, Martin. My first though was maybe a Plymouth Prowler. However, I think maybe this is a case where we should bring back the original and cast the DeLorean as the DeLorean.

There's just no way to recreate the DeLorean in 1985. The movie made the DeLorean its own punchline, completely by accident.

The closest modern equivalent I can think of is a PT Cruiser. Maybe a Honda Element.

I've always thought the Chrysler Crossfire would make an interesting BTTF time machine.

I seem to remember Universal using the Toyota Celica as an updated time machine but it looked rubbish.

What does "Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan" become? What science fiction reference is so iconic that general movie-going audiences would recognize it, yet new enough that people in 1985 wouldn't? The only thing that comes to mind is "Neo from the Matrix"

While they're worlds away from being as cool as the Delorean, a Hummer or Avalanche might have the appropriate fish-out-of-water look in 1985.

You know I was going to watch "Back to the future" the other night just to watch that scene were Doc scares the hell out of George Mcfly With the so called scary rock and roll music. Then I backed out, also the whole Mcfly Shoe kinda got me in the mood as well. But I still backed out, some movies I dunno, seen them to many times.

Teen Wolf, now thats something I could rewatch that I didn't watch enough of. Ya'll would probably pick Shia to start that role as well.

I think 'Neo from the Matrix' would be a good one to use, you could get some sly references to the unpopularity of sequels too.

And you'd need to make some cultural jokes about computers too. Can't imagine what someone from the 80's would think a facebook was and where Myspace is.

Why not just bring back Thompson and Glover, and switch the part of the movie where they get the makeup caked on to change their apparent age?

Oh man oh man, if I weren't afraid that a remake might turn out atrociously, I'd almost love to see one made.

Going back to 1980... Yikes. Imagine: no iPods, no Internet, gas rising above $1 for the first time, knowing Vader was Luke's father...

(Love the blog, by the way)

Okay, I think Shia LeBoef is too old for Marty, how about Zac whats-his-name from the High School Musical movies? BTTF was about one step above a Disney flick anyway.

As for Doc Brown, I like Hugh Laurie a lot but let me just say two words: Bill Murray. Murray can do anything and would bring a unique re-imagining performance to Doc B I think.

How about replacing the DeLorean with... A DeLorean? Why change it? Really? The new punchline would be that in 1980 no one notices the car is totally retro, or looks like a space ship.

BTW - Marty lampooning Neo (or Morpheus) from The Matrix films to replace the "Darth Vader from planet Vulcan" scene is genius!

A word on music for the 80s: Forget Huey Lewis and the News... Go Eurythmics!