Disney turned down Back to the Future over the plot where Marty’s mom falls for him, and wouldn’t pay for The Lord of the Rings. The Star Wars story is shakier than you’ve heard.
Some of the biggest movies ever made went to Disney first, and Disney said no.
Back to the Future got rejected because of the mom. “The Lord of the Rings” was too expensive. And Disney later paid billions to own two giant franchises that started at other studios.
As for the famous story that Disney passed on “Star Wars”? It’s a little murkier than the internet makes it sound.
Did Disney pass on Back to the Future?
Yes, and co-writer Bob Gale has told the story on the record.
The script “was rejected over 40 times by every major studio,” Gale told CNN in 2010. Some studios said it was too sweet and told them to try Disney.
So he and director Robert Zemeckis did. A Disney executive said no, because of the plot where Marty goes back to 1955 and his own mom falls for him.
“It’s too dirty for us!” the executive said, as Gale tells it. This was the old Disney, before Michael Eisner took over in 1984, Gale said.
Universal made it instead. It came out in 1985 and has made $391.5 million worldwide, counting re-releases, according to Box Office Mojo. Universal later built a whole theme park ride around it, Back to the Future: The Ride.
Here’s Universal’s 40th anniversary trailer:
Why didn’t Disney make The Lord of the Rings?
Money, mostly. And it was Disney’s own studio that had the project.
Peter Jackson started developing it at Miramax, which Disney owned at the time. Disney had put a budget cap on Miramax, Jackson’s manager, Ken Kamins, told The Independent in 2021.
The plan was to shoot the movies back to back with a director who wasn’t an A-list name yet. Disney “made it very clear they were not on board,” Kamins said.
Miramax gave Jackson three weeks to find a new studio, Kamins said. New Line Cinema said yes, and turned it into three movies.
Add up all three on Box Office Mojo, and the trilogy has made about $2.98 billion worldwide.
Did Disney pass on Star Wars?
Maybe. Nobody who was there seems to have said so on the record.
Universal had an option on George Lucas’ next movie after “American Graffiti,” and it passed on the “Star Wars” treatment, Lucas’ lawyer, Tom Pollock, told Deadline in 2015. Then Alan Ladd Jr. at Fox said yes.
A 2015 Vanity Fair history of the film says United Artists and Universal passed, and adds, “Disney, ironically, passed.”
That line doesn’t say who at Disney passed, or when. We couldn’t find Lucas, his producers or anyone at Disney confirming it.
Either way, Disney got there eventually. It agreed to buy Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in 2012, according to Disney’s announcement. Box Office Mojo shows the original “Star Wars” alone at $775.4 million worldwide.
Which hit did Disney want, then have to buy?
“Avatar.”
Back in 2005, James Cameron showed test footage to Disney’s then-CEO, Bob Iger, studio chief Dick Cook and finance chief Alan Bergman while Fox was on the fence about the movie, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
Bergman told THR in 2022 that they walked out of that screening saying they had to have it.
Disney started negotiating, and that pushed Fox to keep the movie. Fox released it in 2009, and it’s made $2.92 billion worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
Then Disney bought 21st Century Fox in 2019 for $71.3 billion, THR noted. Bergman said he told Cameron, “See, Jim, we had to buy the company to get the next Avatar.”
What other hits did Disney let get away?
Fahrenheit 9/11. Disney blocked Miramax from releasing Michael Moore’s 2004 documentary. “That decision stands,” a Disney spokeswoman told The New York Times, as PBS NewsHour reported.
Moore’s agent said Eisner worried about Disney’s tax breaks in Florida, and Disney called Moore’s claims a publicity stunt, the AP reported.
Disney sold the film to Miramax’s founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, for about $6 million, and Lions Gate and IFC Films released it, the AP reported. It went on to make $222.4 million worldwide, Box Office Mojo shows.
The Hunger Games, sort of. Disney didn’t pass on the movie. It let go of the person who made it.
Nina Jacobson ran Disney’s Buena Vista movie studio and helped bring “Pirates of the Caribbean” to the screen. Disney fired her in July 2006, Fortune reported.
She started her own company, found “The Hunger Games” books in 2009 and produced the movie, according to Fortune. The first one made $695.3 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
Harry Potter, the theme park version. Disney once talked about a Harry Potter land, years before Universal opened one. We covered how that Harry Potter deal fell apart back in July.
Which of these movies does Disney own now?
Two of the big ones, through the side door. Disney owns “Star Wars” through Lucasfilm and “Avatar” through 20th Century Studios, the old Fox movie studio.
“Back to the Future” is still Universal’s. “The Lord of the Rings” movies are still with New Line, which is part of Warner Bros.
Disney never got those two. And honestly, if you describe Back to the Future out loud, you can kind of see where that executive was coming from.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
Henry Hanks, CNN, Oct. 20, 2010: Bob Gale on Back to the Future’s 25th anniversary
Sam Moore, The Independent, Dec. 15, 2021: The Lord of the Rings oral history (Ken Kamins)
Mike Fleming Jr., Deadline, Dec. 18, 2015: Tom Pollock on the Star Wars rights deal
Scott Beggs, Vanity Fair, Dec. 18, 2015: How Star Wars began as an independent film
The Walt Disney Company, Oct. 30, 2012: Disney to acquire Lucasfilm (SEC filing)
Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, Nov. 30, 2022: James Cameron and Avatar: The Way of Water (Alan Bergman)
PBS NewsHour, May 5, 2004: Disney blocks distribution of Fahrenheit 9/11 (citing The New York Times)
Associated Press via Fox News, June 9, 2004: Disney, Miramax wrangle over contract
Patricia Sellers, Fortune, March 23, 2012: The powerhouse behind The Hunger Games
NPR, Nov. 25, 2015: Nina Jacobson profile
Box Office Mojo: Back to the Future, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Star Wars, Avatar, Fahrenheit 9/11 and The Hunger Games, all releases
Universal Pictures on YouTube: Back to the Future 40th Anniversary Trailer
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