Former On the Lot Contestant to Direct Great Scott: A Love Letter to Back to the Future

Posted by on January 21st, 2012   Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Sci-fi
Source: Moviehole

Over the past few years, we’ve seen many films that pay homage to 1980s cinema. Just last year there was Paul, Super 8, and Attack the Block, to name a few. Now audiences can prepare for another helping of nostalgia with Great Scott, a film that pays tribute to Robert Zemeckis’ Back to the Future Trilogy. The movie takes place in 1980s Manchester, England and centers on a teenage boy who loves the sci-fi classic so much that he wants to become Marty McFly, attempting to escape his mundane, working-class life in the process. Financing will come from Philm Company, Sonic Screenworks and Lip Sync, who have helped produce such films as We Need to Talk About Kevin and Jane Eyre. Alex Child and Hiram Bleetman wrote the script and filming is planned to start this spring.

While you may not recognize the name of the director, Phil Hawkins, he was actually a contestant on Fox’s short-lived reality show On the Lot. Produced by Steven Spielberg, the show pitted 16 aspiring directors against each other in an effort to win a development deal with DreamWorks. (How many people remember this show?) Hawkins didn’t fare too well in the competition, but he has been working in TV and movies steadily since then. While the idea behind Great Scott doesn’t sound like anything fresh, it does have a certain appeal to someone like myself who also obsesses over movies. What are your thoughts on Great Scott and what do you think about the frequent use of nostalgia in films these days?



  • max

    should be interesting if anything. i just hope they dont incorperate too many jokes from BTTF into the film. I wonder what the tone of the movie will be.

  • rob

    Would love to see it although admittedly a lot of my excitement is due to me living in Manchester!

    Im presuming the “Fox’s short-lived reality show On the Lot” got cancelled and no one won the Dreamworks deal?

  • Deven Science

    Sounds like this is to Back to the Future as Son of Rambow was to First Blood.

  • wayno

    I remember the show. It sucked because a contestant would be given a task and the judging was up to call in voters.(like American Idol) So the best and most creative were pushed aside for contestants that had “nice” personalities. There was a season when An extremely talented individual lost to some dope that always mentioned his daughters and he was a single dad and needed the money boo hoo hoo.