“Forgotten Hollywood”- Back to the Future: 10/21/2015

Posted on October 21, 2015 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here… Back_to_the_Future_Part_II

   The Chicago Cubs are one game away from ruining a day important to the legions of fans of Back to the Future. In the second flick in the series, the prediction was the Cubbies would break their long World Series championship losing streak in 2015.

   On the other hand… the former wife of the automaker whose famous car traveled through time in the 1985 movie and its sequels has just settled a lawsuit over the use of his name. Last year, the widow of automaker John DeLorean sued a Texas company she said has been illegally using the DeLorean name for years. The DMC-12, known simply as the DeLorean, was driven by Michael J. Fox in the movie, and has since gained a cult following. Sally DeLorean, who lives in New Jersey with her daughter, sued the Texas-based DeLorean Motor Company, claiming it’s been using the DeLorean name without permission to sell hats, pens, notebooks, key chains, and other items, and wrongfully licensed the name and images to other companies, including Nike, Urban Outfitters, and Apple.

   Last month, the parties agreed to a settlement that will pay Sally an undisclosed sum, while allowing the company to retain the rights to use the DeLorean Motor Company name, trademarks, and logo. The estate will retain rights to John DeLorean’s name, aspects of his personal life, and depictions of his likeness that aren’t public property or purchased from legitimate rights holders.

   John DeLorean began his career at General Motors before forming his own company in the 1970s. Only about 9,000 DeLorean cars were produced before the company went bankrupt in the early 1980s, but the car’s sleek, angular look and gull-wing doors helped land it a role in the Back to the Future films. DeLorean died in New Jersey in 2005 at age 80. By the way, his former estate in the rolling hills about 40 miles west of New York City was converted into a golf course by Donald Trump (of all people) in 2004.

OCT_21_2015   1920_cub_logo

   With this lawsuit settled, I’m rooting for a Chicago Cubs four-game winning streak that will land them in the Fall Classic. And today, several theaters are offering back-to-back screenings of the Back to the Future trilogy; plus, the town of Reston, Virginia will temporarily change its name to Hill Valley to commemorate the iconic series during its annual film festival. An appearance by the original cast is scheduled at a Lincoln Center screening in New York, and a tour of the Hill Valley town square is planned on the Universal Studios lot. Meanwhile, the trilogy is exclusively streaming on Amazon Prime, and Universal is releasing a special edition trilogy box set in light-up packaging.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 21st, 2015 at 1:07 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.


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