It's been 25 years since William Preston Esq. III and Theodore Logan - a.k.a. Bill and Ted - first went on their most excellent time-traveling adventure, cementing themselves as cultural icons and future saviors of the world. Yet, after they came back from the dead (by tricking The Grim Reaper, no less) the pair haven't done much. And they definitely haven't gotten around to their destiny of writing the greatest song in existence.
Talk of Bill & Ted 3 has been circulating for a while, but in the last few years those discussions have become more promising. Two years ago Bill, er... Alex Winter gave an update on the long gestating project saying the script - from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey scribes Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon - was finished. Soon after we learned Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest) was expected to direct, followed by Ted himself (Keanu Reeves) revealing a few plot details about the forthcoming threequel.
Reeves teased that Bill & Ted 3 would find the pair, "crushed by the responsibility of having to write the greatest song ever written and to change the world. And they haven't done it." Turns out, Bill and Ted in their 40s are just as big of slackers as Bill and Ted in their teens. Most unfortunate.
Now, in a new update from Winters (via Yahoo! Movies), the actor/director echoes much of that same sentiment, saying:
"[Bill & Ted] will be 40-something and it’s all about Bill and Ted grown up, or not grown up. It’s really sweet and really f—-ing funny. But it’s a Bill & Ted movie, that’s what it is. It’s for the fans of Bill & Ted. It fits very neatly in the [series]. It’s not going to feel like a reboot. The conceit is really funny: What if you’re middle-aged, haven’t really grown up and you’re supposed to have saved the world and maybe, just maybe, you kinda haven’t?"
Reaching middle age and questioning the slacker lifestyle isn't an entirely new idea. And definitely not when it comes to comedy duos from the early 90s: Kevin Smith's Clerks 2 presented the mid-life crisis of perpetual convenience store clerks Dante and Randall, and the upcoming Dumb & Dumber To is hoping to channel the same retrospective humor.
However, where Bill & Ted 3 can distinguish itself is in the series' more bogus elements. "There’s many versions of ourselves in this movie," Winters said - which is something Reeves also previously hinted at - suggesting Bill & Ted 3 won't only deal with time travel but multiple time lines. Whoa.
Though, fans shouldn't start getting too excited just yet:
"The thing we had going against us is that word got out. That was kind of a bummer. It just takes a long time to put a movie together. Now we’re having to build this thing in public, which is fine. I just feel bad [the fans] have to get dragged through this long, boring, protracted process."
Honestly, most fans - and definitely Screen Rant readers - are likely used to that "long, boring, protracted process" seeing as many films sit in the rumor mill for years before becoming actual projects. But still, waiting is never easy.
At least fans can take comfort in the amount of time and consideration that Bill & Ted 3 has been given, as Winters adds:
"Me and Keanu and Chris [Matheson] and Ed [Solomon] are all very close and have remained close over the years. We’d be having dinner and we’d be like, ‘is there a point? Is there a way in?’ We’d kick an idea around and go no and we would leave it alone for a bunch of years. I guess about four years ago we had an idea together that we thought was pretty great. I think it was because so much time had gone by that it was great.
"It was really just the four of us and we were really very measured about it. It took time to construct the idea, it took Chris and Ed time to build the first draft. Then we put a producer together and got a director. We’ve been working on drafts for the last couple of years. The script’s been finished for a while, but comedy is so specific. We’re in that world where producers are on, financiers are on and we’re just working and reworking the script."
Sloppy sequels that aim to cash in on a resurgence in popularity are a dime a dozen. Thankfully, Bill & Ted 3 is only happening because those involved feel the time is right, and more importantly, they have a story worth telling. And that is most excellent news. (cue guitars)
Do these comments from Alex Winter make you more or less interested in Bill & Ted 3? Is another installment in Bill & Ted franchise something you're even interested in at all? Sound off in the comments below!
Stay tuned to Screen Rant for more news on Bill & Ted 3 as it develops.
Source: Yahoo! Movies