Was October 21, 2020, the day that Marty McFly of "Back To the Future" fame arrives when he travels to the future? No, that's not true. A meme has gone viral claiming that date this year is the point in time that Marty McFly arrives in the future in the movie "Back to the Future Part II." However, the date was really October 21, 2015, not 2020, in the fictional film.
The claim appeared as a post (archived here) where it was published on Facebook on October 21, 2020. It opened:
Today is the day that Marty McFly arrives when he travels to the future October 21 2020
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Oct 22 02:08:43 2020 UTC)
Here is another example of the post:
Posted by Bill Klopp on Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Bob Gale, the screenwriter and producer of the movie, told the Wall Street Journal on October 21, 2015 why the date was chosen for the movie.
In "Back to the Future Part II," Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) touched down in Hill Valley, Calif., on October 21, 2015, after blasting through the space-time continuum with Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd)...The only reason this happens is because Marty originally purchased the almanac in 2015 after getting the idea when he notices the Cubs finally won a World Series. Marty hopes to take it back and making a quick buck himself, but Doc Brown foils his plan and throws away the almanac, which Biff later finds.
"We thought of something that somebody would say, 'I wished I'd bet money on that,'" said screenwriter and producer Bob Gale."
A "Back To The Future" trilogy video posted on the Universal Studios YouTube channel has a shot at 1:12 that clearly shows the date in the "Back To The Future Part II" segment as October 21, 2015.
There was a big celebration in Las Vegas on October 21, 2015, celebrating Back to the Future day. It was held at the Plaza Hotel and Casino, which was the model for the movie's "Biff Tannen's Pleasure Paradise Casino & Hotel," the Panther Print reported.
