The original cast of “Back to the Future” has reunited – not for a reboot, but to help locate a piece of movie history that went missing about 40 years ago.
A hunt is underway for the cherry red Gibson ES-345 guitar, which was played by Michael J. Fox in the 1985 movie as part of the pivotal “Enchantment Under the Sea” school dance scene.
Filmmakers tried to locate the instrument during production of the 1989 sequel, but they were unsuccessful.
In a video released by guitar company Gibson on Tuesday, Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Harry Waters Jr., made a plea to fans and collectors to help them track down the instrument.
“It’s somewhere lost in the space-time continuum,” said Fox. “We need that guitar.”
Lloyd, channeling his character Doc Brown, added: “The guitar has been lost to the future.”
The movie follows Fox as Marty McFly, a teenager who accidentally travels 30 years into the past to when his parents were in high school. With the help of eccentric inventor Doc Brown, he is forced to repair the timeline – and ensure his own future – before returning home.
The guitar search is part of a broader project marking the movie’s 40th anniversary.
Gibson has launched a tip line and is producing a documentary, “Lost to the Future,” exploring both the hunt for the guitar and the legacy of the film itself.
“Guitar has always been a big part of my life,” Fox said in a Gibson press release. “I just love the guitar, and I love the movie,” he added.
“Since we don’t have a functioning time machine, this effort is probably our best chance to solve a decades-long mystery,” added Bob Gale, the movie’s co-creator, in the release.