The cherry red guitar that Michael J. Fox famously jammed out on while playing high schooler Marty McFly in “Back to the Future” has been missing ever since the cult sci-fi classic hit theaters on July 3, 1985.
Ahead of the film’s 40th anniversary, the actor has teamed up with leading guitar manufacturer Gibson to track down the missing instrument—and they’re asking for the public’s help.
The guitar was featured in the Oscar-winning film’s memorable “Enchantment Under the Sea” school dance scene, which saw McFly perform a rousing rendition of Chuck Berry’s hit 1958 single “Johnny B. Goode.”
The film’s co-creators, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, only discovered the guitar was gone while they were filming the 1989 sequel, “Back to the Future Part II.”
“Years ago, I was astonished to learn this beloved cinematic artifact had apparently disappeared into the space-time continuum,” Gale said in a statement. “Since we don’t have a functioning time machine, this effort is probably our best chance to solve a decades-long mystery.”
The global search for the missing guitar will be chronicled in the forthcoming documentary “Lost to the Future”—a massive hunt that will span “long-forgotten film prop warehouses, fascinating vintage guitar shops, auction houses, and shadowy back alleys,” a press release reads.
“The ‘Lost to the Future’ documentary will transport viewers back to 1985 to celebrate the music, culture, and defining moments of the era through a rich collection of archival photos, stories, film clips, and iconic songs.”
Produced by Gibson Films and directed by Doc Crotzer, the film will also feature interviews with some of the original cast of “Back to the Future,” including Fox, Christopher Lloyd, and Lea Thompson, who played Marty McFly’s mother, Lorraine Baines McFly.
The enduring popularity of “Back to the Future” left a lasting mark on pop culture, spawning a franchise, including 1990’s “Back to the Future Part III,” video games, theme park rides, and even a Broadway musical—a true testament to the film’s timeless appeal.
In the movie, McFly is accidentally transported to the 1950s after an experiment by his mad scientist friend Doc Brown, played by Lloyd, goes wrong. “Traveling through time in a modified DeLorean car, Marty encounters young versions of his parents and must make sure that they fall in love or he'll cease to exist,” an official synopsis reads. “Even more dauntingly, Marty has to return to his own time and save the life of Doc Brown.”
Crotzer, known for his work on “Road House” (2024), said in a statement that “Back to the Future” is the film that inspired him to pursue a career as a filmmaker and pick up a guitar for the very first time.
“As children of the ‘80s, it is our duty to take fans of music, fans of the movie, and fans of true crime documentaries with us on this too-crazy-to-believe quest to find our generation’s Excalibur,” he shared.
