The Back to the Future stage musical is finally ready to take you back in time

It may have taken a little more time than expected, but the stage musical based on Back to the Future will soon be leaving flaming tracks across the boards.

Playbill reports that the long-gestating musical is set to open on Feb. 20, 2020. It will debut in the U.K., at the Manchester Opera House. Originally announced six years ago (and pushed back twice), the musical adaptation, with a book written by the original film's co-writer, Bob Gale, is ready to be the theatrical equivalent of 1.21 gigawatts.

Tony-winning director John Rando will helm the production, which is set to include the songs "Johnny B. Goode," "Earth Angel," and "The Power of Love." In terms of the rest of the musical's score, you might be thinking that it is impossible to recreate the magic of Alan Silvestri's original work. Worry not — Silvestri himself is working on the score here, alongside Glen Ballard.

The only casting that has been announced thus far is Olly Dodson (Matilda in the West End), who will play Marty McFly.

In a statement, per Playbill, Bob Gale said, "Bob Zemeckis and I have been trying to get this project off the ground for years, but good things take time and finally, the time is right."

Will the show please fans of the original film? Gale believes that it will. "We’re thrilled that we can retell our story on stage in a brand-new way, and we’re certain that Back to the Future fans all over the world will share our enthusiasm," he said, adding, "In the words of Marty McFly, ‘your kids are gonna love it’—and so will you and your parents."

We suppose if the live Chitty Chitty Bang Bang musical could get that steampunk car to fly, then this team should be able to do some interesting things with a time-traveling DeLorean. The show would be the latest in a series of genre film properties coming to the stage, which includes current adaptations on Broadway of both King Kong and Beetlejuice. Both Toronto and the West End saw a giant adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, and a high school managed to turn Alien into a stage play. There's also, of course, that little-talked-about musical that featured Spider-Man (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark).

It certainly looks like the team behind this musical has some big talent in its corner, which is of course a good thing. If you're gonna adapt a beloved 1985 genre movie into a musical, why not do it with some style?