Ed Solomon, co-writer of Bill & Ted Face the Music, revealed recently that the film’s science is not pure fiction; instead, the film’s universe is based on scientific reality. Released last Friday, the beloved, time-traveling duo, played by Alex Winters and Keanu Reeves, has finally returned to the silver screen after 30 years. Luckily, the long wait for the film paid off. The writing team, Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon delivered fans with a rewarding revival of the cult sci-fi, comedy franchise receiving positive reviews.
Matheson, alongside Solomon, co-created the fantastical world of Bill and Ted in the first installment Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure in 1989. The film was a shocking success, immediately gaining a cult following, which encouraged the writing team to create the 1991 sequel Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. Since then, fans have been anxiously awaiting the return of their cherished characters. After many years of development and careful writing, answering fans’ calls, the third film in the franchise has finally been released on VOD. In their triumphant return, the eccentric duo teams up with their adult daughters, played by Samara Weaving and Brigett Lundy-Paine, to save the world from the apocalypse through song.
A recent tweet by Solomon disproves the popular misconception that the science in Bill & Ted Face the Music is simple movie fiction. In the thread, Solomon mentions one of the world’s foremost quantum physicists, Spiros Michalakis, who confirmed that the film’s science is actually possible. This interaction exposes that Solomon considered the actual science as part of the story in the process of writing the script, rather than taking the creative liberty of crafting the movie as pure science fiction.
As an experienced sci-fi writer Solomon, who is also responsible for the iconic Men In Black screenplay, it may come as a shock to fans that his writing is grounded in real-life science. The belief that the newest installment uses fictional science most likely comes from the franchise’s cohesive comedic tone. Commonly, serious sci-fi films, like Interstellar or The Martian, will try to base their plots on real-life science to make the fantastic quality of the film’s universe more believable. Even though Solomon chose to include real-life science, the Bill & Ted franchises’ cult following is not about the technical-scientific elements. Instead, the film’s success comes from the light-hearted and ridiculous humor of the dynamic duo traveling through time.
Bill & Ted may be silly characters at their core, but Solomon’s careful consideration of the film’s science demonstrates that they took immense care when writing the new installment. Although grounding the world in real-life science was unnecessary, it shows that the film is not just an accidental success. Instead, the beloved franchise is a product of commitment to the characters and creating a holistic comedic experience. Their stoner-like nature has rooted them as cherished figures in pop culture, even though Keanu Reeves has adamantly commented that the characters are, in fact, not stoners. Bill & Ted Face the Music’s is a testament to Solomon’s thoughtful approach to comedy and should be standard audiences should expect from comedy films in the future.
Source: Twitter