Editing Back to the Future (section)

===Context===
{{See also|1985 in film}}
[[File:Back-to-the-future-logo.svg|thumb|alt=refer to caption|The logo for ''Back to the Future'']]

By June 1985, the theatrical industry had experienced a 14% decline in ticket sales over the previous year's $4{{spaces}}billion record sales. The summer period (beginning the final week of May) had 45{{spaces}}films scheduled for release, including ''[[Rambo: First Blood Part&nbsp;II]]'', ''The Goonies'', ''[[Brewster's Millions (1985 film)|Brewster's Millions]]'', ''[[Fletch (film)|Fletch]]'', and the latest [[James Bond]] film ''[[A View to a Kill]]''.<ref name="NYTimes1985June11" /> This 25% increase over the previous year's releases led to concerns among industry professionals the competition would divide audiences and limit financial returns, at a time when the average cost of making and marketing a film had increased to $14.5{{spaces}}million and $7{{spaces}}million, respectively.<ref name="NYTimes1985June11" /> A higher budget to secure a popular, and thus profitable, cast was considered a suitable risk.<ref name="NYTimes1985June11" /> Most films scheduled for release were aimed at younger audiences, focusing on fantasy and the supernatural. Reflecting the times, these fantasy elements often employed a technological source instead of a magical one.<ref name="NYTimes1985PostMortemCanby" /> Only a few films, like ''Cocoon'' and ''[[Prizzi's Honor]]'', targeted adults.<ref name="NYTimesSeptBOOverview" />

Initially, ''Back to the Future'' was scheduled to be released in May 1985,{{sfn|Gaines|2015|p=2}} but was pushed back to June{{spaces}}21, the earliest Zemeckis could have the film ready. The delay caused by Stoltz's replacement pushed the release back to July{{spaces}}19, and later to August.<ref name="EsquireDidntGetMade" /> Sheinberg moved the release date forward to July{{spaces}}3, giving it an extra sixteen days of theatrical screen time during the industry's most profitable period of the year. The move offered about 100,000 extra screenings, together worth an estimated $40{{spaces}}million. He said he also wanted to avoid the negative perception of films released later in the summer period; other [[blockbuster (entertainment)|blockbuster]] films were usually released early.<ref name="NYTDateMovedUp" /> The change required renegotiations with theater owners to secure screens in an already-crowded marketplace. In some cities, it was legally required that exhibitors be shown a film before purchase; an unfinished cut of the film was shown to theater owners and young test audiences. They described it as lesser than ''E.T.{{spaces}}the Extra-Terrestrial'' or ''[[Ghostbusters]]'', but still a guaranteed box office hit.<ref name="NYTDateMovedUp" /> Fox was unavailable for promotional work because he was filming ''[[List of Family Ties episodes#Film (1985)|Family Ties Vacation]]'' (1985) in London.{{sfn|Gaines|2015|p=113}}