Bob Gale asked Universal to "destroy" a censored version of ‘Back To The Future: Part II’.
The screenwriter – who penned the iconic time travel trilogy with director Robert Zemeckis – has blamed the studio for Netflix ending up with an "edited version" which omitted a scene where Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) thnks he’s found the sports almanac in Principal Strickland’s (James Tolkan) office, only to discover it’s actually a raunchy magazine.
He told the Hollywood Reporter: "Apparently, this was a foreign version which neither director Robert Zemeckis nor I even knew existed, for some country that had a problem with the Oh La La magazine cover.
"I asked that the studio destroy this version. FYI, Netflix does not edit films — they only run the versions that are supplied to them.
"So they’re blameless. You can direct your ire at Universal, but I think they will be a lot more careful in the future — and with ‘the future.’ "
The streaming platform has all three movies available to watch – including the original 1985 film, its 1989 sequel and 1990’s Wild West-inspired third flick.
Now, Gale is glad the service is airing "original version", after making sure Universal had dealt with the censoring issue.
He added: "The blame is on Universal who somehow furnished Netflix an edited version of the movie.
"I learned about it some ten days ago from an eagle-eyed fan, and had the studio rectify the error. The version now running is the uncensored, unedited, original version."
Gale and Zemeckis recently joined the movie’s cast – including stars Christopher Lloyd, Michael J. Fox and Lea Thompson – for Josh Gad’s ‘Reunited Apart’ YouTube series, and the former once again dismissed the idea of a fourth movie.
He quipped: "It would have to be that Doc and Marty find out that we’re thinking about making another ‘Back To The Future’ movie and come back to stop us from doing such a crazy thing."