Back to the Future Part II‘s nod at Jaws pokes fun at Hollywood, but it also hides a close connection to its own cast. Back to the Future Part I is a love letter to the 1950s, a decade that Back to the Future writer Bob Gale dreamed of visiting after he found a school yearbook photo of his father. Back to the Future Part II, on the other hand, is an ode to 1989’s version of the future, and it provides both an optimistic and a pessimistic look at what modern life would look like nowadays. The sequel made a few good predictions, but others weren’t as accurate.
One of the predictions Back to the Future Part II made was the 2015 release of Jaws 19 — a gag that mocked Jaws‘ three sequels, which had already come out prior to the release of Back to the Future Part II. This was a joke in the same vein of Spaceballs and Airplane II‘s criticisms of the Rocky franchise, which they predicted would spawn dozens of sequels throughout the decades. The Jaws franchise never got close to 19 installments, but it did end with a subtle link to Back to the Future.
Back To The Future Part II’s Jaws Joke Has A Secret Meaning
Jaws 3D, the last installment in the Jaws franchise, starred Dennis Quaid as Martin Brody’s son Mike Brody and Bess Armstrong as biologist Kathryn Morgan. It also featured Lea Thompson in her film debut as Kelly Ann Bukowski, a guest at SeaWorld Orlando. Jaws 3D was released in 1983, only two years before Lea Thompson played Lorraine Baines in the first Back to the Future cast, one of her career’s most famous roles. Curiously, Jaws‘ third and final sequel, which Back to the Future Part II suggested was unnecessary, may have been crucial for Lea Thompson to nab her famous Back to the Future role.
Back To The Future’s Jaws Joke Was Proved Right (& Wrong)
Back to the Future Part II‘s prediction missed the mark, as the Jaws franchise ended in 1983 with Jaws 3D. Steven Spielberg’s Max also isn’t directing big-budget movies like the Jaws 19 marquee suggested, and movie theaters aren’t using interactive holograms — although highly realistic 3D billboards are already rising in popularity. However, Back to the Future accurately predicted Hollywood’s growing obsession with sequels, particularly of franchises that were already popular in the ’80s. Terminator‘s latest movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger released in 2019, Rocky continued as a spinoff trilogy co-starring Sylvester Stallone, and an 80-year-old is starring in a fifth Indiana Jones movie.
One trend that Back to the Future Part II couldn’t even begin to imagine was the rise of cinematic universes. Jaws 19 may sound preposterous, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe amounts to a whopping 42 movies and 15 shows either already released or in active development by early 2023, while the DCU is set to start anew right after the DCEU’s 16 interconnected movies. Avatar‘s four sequels were confirmed even before the second movie came out, and Star Wars continues to expand after three trilogies with various spinoffs and shows. Back to the Future Part II‘s nod at Jaws proves that reality can be stranger than fiction.
