Bill & Ted 3 Is Officially, Finally Happening
Awesome things are afoot at the Circle-K, because Bill and Ted are officially coming back.
Just when the world was forgetting how to be excellent to each other, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter have officially announced that they will return to reprise their roles as the slacker saviors in Bill & Ted Face the Music, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The iconic characters, slacker high schoolers destined to grow up to form a band that saves the world, were first introduced in the 1989 time-hopping history lesson Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Much in the manner of The Godfather or Star Wars, the film was followed by an equally perfect, perhaps superior sequel: the Devil-battling Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.
Since then, there has been a lot of talk but painfully little action moving forward on a third movie, with the prospect becoming more and more ephemeral as the years, then decades, wore on. But now, 27 years later, the Earl of Preston and the Duke of Ted are really back together.
Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, who created the characters and wrote both scripts, are returning as well with a script already written — but they've been working in the meantime, too.
Since making their breaks into film screenwriting by partnering on the first Bill and Ted movie, Matheson and Solomon have gone on to make names for themselves on their own. Solomon wrote Men in Black, Now You See Me, and its sequel, while Matheson wrote the screenplays for A Goofy Movie and Rapture-Palooza, among others. They also co-wrote the Eddie Murphy comedy Imagine That.
The story of Face the Music revolves around Ted "Theodore" Logan and Bill S. Preston, Esquire reaching middle age without fulfilling their destiny of writing the song that saves the world. Their procrastination in the face of family and the daily grind ultimately leads to a rupture in time and space itself.
Once again, they are visited by a resident of the future, who reveals to them that their mundane lives have taken a most serious turn. To save the world, they set off with the help of their daughters on a quest through time to gather historical figures and musical legends to find the inspiration they need to face the music.
Dean Parisot is on board to direct, having previously helmed Galaxy Quest, RED 2, and Fun with Dick and Jane.
"We couldn't be more excited to get the whole band back together again," Reeves and Winter said in a statement at the time of the announcement. "Chris and Ed wrote an amazing script, and with Dean at the helm we've got a dream team!"
Honestly, it's so great to see them throwing exclamation marks into the press release, for this is indeed a most momentous occasion. As President Abraham Lincoln would bellow, "party on, dudes!"
No release date has yet been set for Bill & Ted Face the Music, but it's really real, and it's really happening. The planets have been aligned and brought into universal harmony.