Back to the Future musical announced

A stage musical of hit 1980s time travel film Back to the Future is set to debut in London's West End in 2015.

Robert Zemeckis, who co-wrote and directed the 1985 Michael J Fox film, will reunite with co-writer Bob Gale to pen the book for the stage adaptation.

The film saw Marty McFly (Fox) travel back to 1955 at a crucial point in his parents' high school relationship.

According to Gale, the musical will be "true to the spirit of the film without being a slavish remake".

"We intend to use music from the movie along with brand new songs to make a version of Back to the Future that is fresh, entertaining and takes advantage of all the amazing things that can now be done on stage," he said.

"We can't think of a better way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the film."

The comedy adventure, which co-starred Christopher Lloyd, was a huge hit for Zemeckis and spawned two sequels.

Composer Alan Silvestri - who scored many of Zemeckis's films, including Romancing the Stone, Forrest Gump and Cast Away - will co-author the music and lyrics for the show with songwriter Glen Ballard.

Ballard, a six-time Grammy winner, co-wrote and produced Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill album and co-wrote the music for the stage adaptation of Ghost.

Britain's Jamie Lloyd - who directed James McAvoy last year in a sell-out production of Macbeth at London's Trafalgar Studios - will direct the production.

The 33-year-old's other credits include a Broadway production of Cyrano de Bergerac, The Duchess of Malfi at the Old Vic and She Stoops to Conquer at the National Theatre.

"I was five when I saw Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale's landmark movie and I have been a huge fan ever since," said Lloyd.

His production, he continued, would "include illusions, skateboarding and many other surprises that will capture the spirit of the film but freshly interpret it for a new audience".

Back to the Future joins a number of hit films from the 1980s that have spawned stage musicals, among them Dirty Dancing, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and the aforementioned Ghost.

Zemeckis's last film project was Flight in 2012, which earned Denzel Washington an Oscar nomination for best actor.

Earlier this year it was reported that the director was planning to adapt Phillippe Petit's autobiography To Reach the Clouds.

Petit's story previously inspired Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire, which followed his ambition to tightrope walk between New York's Twin Towers in 1974.