The path to righteousness, awesomeness and most excellence has been paved with numerous problems. We’re of course talking about the return of cinema’s most bodacious slackers for Bill & Ted 3. Progress on the threequel has stalled over the years due to script leaks, “darkness,” and the general misalignment of key factors. Most recently we heard from Alex Winters that a completed script was in the bag, with the pair set to return for another dose of time travel tomfoolery. Despite Winters’ optimism, there’s still a ways to go before the film even approaches production.
Today, the other half of Wyld Stallyns, Keanu Reeves, spoke to Coming Soon about the first problem that needs addressing – the script:
We have to get the script in the right place. Chris [Matheson] and Ed [Solomon] have been working really hard over a couple of years to get the draft in the right place. What is the reason to make this movie besides nostalgia or the love of these characters. Where can they be in their life that can be a story that is worth telling or has something in it and is funny? They have that.
This corroborates what Winters revealed last month, as he too spoke about how vital it is to nail down a solid screenplay. One major struggle in that regard has involved the potential budget and scale of the movie. To ensure that the project doesn’t deter investors, the first draft underwent a major rewrite. Reeves went on to explain why this was the case:
It didn’t help that the first script that they brought in was probably budgeted at $150 million dollars. I don’t know if Bill & Ted carry that much weight. Part of the argument is that it’s not that popular internationally, that’s where so much of the funding for movies comes from these days. They’ve worked on the script and the budget, just trying to get the right script and then get the business side wrapped up, financiers and rights, all the show business stuff.
Wrapping up the “business side” is certainly the only way to guarantee we’ll see another big screen venture for the oafish duo. While Reeves’ point concerning the popularity of the franchise isn’t without weight, the amount of attention paid to the tiniest update on the film ought to provide backers with sufficient reassurances.
So, with a script that’s currently undergoing revision – presumably at much less than $150 million – where exactly will we find the midriff misfits this time? We’ve heard from Winters that the pair will be in their forties and dealing with the fallout after failing to save the Earth. Reeves has fleshed out that brief pitch considerably, which includes the musically-challenged pair penning a song to save the entire universe!
The future comes back and says if you don’t write the song by this certain time the universe is going to unravel and history and everything is going to change and dinosaurs are gonna walk the Earth. Jesus is playing baseball! All sorts of weird things start unraveling and wormholes are twisting. We have to kind of bring order back, and it’s connected into bringing our families together by writing a song. […]
I mean, it’s edgy. There’s a great scene where Bill and Ted are in jail and we’re seeing our future us’s and they’re all tatted and hard. They’re like, [tough sounding] “What’s up, dude? Hey dude. Hey guy.” “Stop calling me dude!” They want to beat up Bill and Ted because they’ve inherited the life that they f**ked up. They’re miserable and they hate Bill and Ted. There’s some funny stuff!
Bill and Ted and dinosaurs? Bill and Ted facing MORE future versions of themselves? Jesus at the plate? If Bill & Ted 3 isn’t a CGI-heavy project, we’d be mightily surprised. Regardless, here’s hoping that they can keep costs at a minimum so the film hits theatres sooner rather than later.