I think Eric Stoltz got screwed with Back to the Future.

I personally don't believe the explanation that there was something wrong with Stoltz's performance. He's a good actor though he can come off whiney and effeminate in his leading man parts (watch LIONHEART or THE FLY 2 to see what I mean). He's also very committed and serious in his roles, which I think did not contrast Crispin Glover, who is very similar in that regard. I think they realized that they couldn't have two similar performances in a movie with a lot of lightheartedness in it and that a contrast would work better with one actor a little more of a goofball than the other.

Whether it was a good call or not, I think it was from a dollars and cents point of view. However I'd be damn curious to ever see a version with Stoltz as the lead once they get to the point with AI where you can simply do an "actor-replace" on a film much like how you can face-swap and voice-swap already.

I'd also like to see an AI-created alternate ending for PLATOON where Charlie Sheen gets Tom Berenger a medic and they go on to become great friends before the credits role... or a version of THE DEER HUNTER where De Niro tracks down Walken just in time and takes him back to his family. Oh, the possibilities...

if they didn't like his performance, or even just his attitude,

then that is still a perfectly acceptable reason to replace him

I think Stoltz was probably miscast and even though I'm not at all a fan of him, I agree he got screwed. They treated him very unfairly, pretty much stringing him along. Stoltz has said he would've changed his performance if only someone had told him they didn't like it.

It sounds like Stoltz already had his strong opinions on the story and the character. I don't think it was lack of trying on the Bobs. They thought the MJF idea was already dead so I'm sure there were attempts at getting him to play along to their vision.

Also Stoltz has never alluded to being screwed over. He may have had hurt feelings by it or feel some type of way, but it sounds like he at least acknowledged fair play

Stoltz is a better dramatic actor than Michael J Fox, but doesn't have his charm, and most importantly, is not as relatable to audiences as MJF is. The movie would've been more serious with Stoltz, with a different tone. It depends what the producers wanted, a serious time travel film or a summer blockbuster adventure, and they elected for the latter and MJF is what you need for that type of film.

I didn't know that about C. Thomas Howell, he's a very underrated actor who never really got that breakout role that coud've made him a star. I think he would've been a better back up choice than Stoltz.

People lose their jobs all the time. Showbusiness is still just a business. According to Lea Thompson, he was taking the role way too seriously and insisting people call him Marty.

And the notion that Stoltz was working with an entirely different script is nonsense. People just think that because BTTF had so many drafts from 1980-1984 but the script Stoltz was working with was pretty much the same one MJF was working with - the late 1984 draft, minus the odd scene or two.

I'm glad he was replaced. Stoltz just doesn't have the charisma for Marty.

What is this, a repost? I've read this before.