Two loveable dimwits. A couple of dodgy haircuts. A talent for getting themselves into a scrape with humourous consequences. No, we’re not talking about Harry and Lloyd and their return to the big screen in Dumb And Dumber To. We’re referring to the two most bodacious dudes to ever time travel, and learn a valuable history lesson while doing so, who are slowly making their way back to the big screen for Bill & Ted 3.
That pair of charming slackers have been touted to return for quite some time, with the project stalling at numerous stages. We’ve all heard of development hell. Last year, Keanu Reeves (Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan) spoke of the sequel’s ‘dark period’ and since then, there’s been little change – until today.
Talking to Yahoo! Movies, Alex Winters, the other half of Wyld Stallyns, gave an honest response to the movie’s continued delay:
“The thing we had going against us is that word got out,” he said. “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.”
We don’t mind, Bill. We’re happy that there’s been considerable headway on the movie. After all, it has been 23 years since Bogus Journey hit cinemas, meaning of course, we’ll be catching up with the duo in their forties:
“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?
There’s many versions of ourselves in this movie,” he went on to say. “It’s answering the question: ‘What happened to these guys?’ They’re supposed to have done all this stuff, they weren’t the brightest bulbs on the tree, what happened 20 years later? To answer that question in a comedic way felt rich with possibility.”
Visiting Bill and Ted in the future sounds like a total hoot – obviously because Reeves and Winters will reprise the roles. The unlikely coupling made for two awesome features that still hold up to repeat viewings today. Part of that reason lay in the cheekily self-aware (but not self-referential) scripts by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, who Winters says have been involved with him and Reeves on the screenplay:
“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.”
So, we know there’s a script, and it’s being reworked. Now, if they can just secure a director….
What do you make of this latest news on Bill & Ted 3? Happy to see them return? Sound off below!