Stoltz had beat out Johnny Depp for McFly role -makes list

Movie Holes list: 50 Original Casting Choices

With the rehabilitated curiosity – stemming from the footage that was recently released… albeit 25 years later! – in Eric Stoltz’s engagement as Marty McFly in “Back to the Future” pre-Michael J.Fox, and of course the big casting switcheroo on “The Hangover 2” (Mel Gibson swapped for Liam Neeson), thought it might be fun to take a look back at some of the could-have-been’s of the celluloid struggle.
The following list includes roles that some passed on, movies that an actor or actress was forced to pull out of for one reason or another (ultimately having to be replaced), and some, like Stoltz, that were vetoed either just before – or at the start of – a particular film’s shoot.

27. Back to the Future (1985) – Johnny Depp as ‘Marty McFly’
Before Eric Stoltz was cast as Lorraine and George’s boy, the producers issued a national casting call inviting all twenty-something actors (well, ones with an in-the-know agent) in to test for the role. One of the youngsters that came in to test for Marty was a then-unknown Johnny Depp. Depp had recently completed work on Wes Craven’s low-budget horror piece “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and thanks to the early buzz surrounding that film found that he was unexpectedly able to get a look-in for some of the juicier roles around town. Unfortunately for Depp, the “Future” gang didn’t think he was a good fit for the role of Marty. It’s then that Depp accepted the offer to front a new teen TV series called “21 Jump Street”.