Strange things are afoot in Hollywood this afternoon, as the New York Times confirms that the long-long-long-developing and highly-anticipated third film in the Bill & Ted series is finally, really, actually happening–like, for real this time. But don’t take their word for it: Watch a very special announcement from Bill & Ted stars Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, who seem aptly stoked to deliver this news to the most righteously loyal Wyld Stallyns fanbase. As touted at the end of the video and confirmed by the Times, the third Bill & Ted movie–titled Bill & Ted Face The Music–will hit theaters in the summer of 2020. Excellent!
Winter, Reeves, and series writer Ed Solomon have been promising a third Bill & Ted movie for years, and although the latest report is the most definitive yet, I won’t believe this sequel is actually happening until I am watching the opening credits to this thing in a movie theater with my very own eyeballs. As previously reported, Bill & Ted Face The Music is set in the present (duh), as the much older (and wiser) time-traveling duo embark on their most epic journey yet. Here’s the official synopsis for the sequel, which Solomon co-wrote with Chris Matheson:
Yet to fulfill their rock ’n’ roll destiny, the now middle-aged best friends set out on a new adventure, when a visitor from the future warns them that only their song can save life as we know it and bring harmony to the universe. Along the way, they will be helped by their families, old friends and a few music legends.
Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted (Theodore) Logan were first introduced to the masses in 1989's Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, in which the super laid-back high school friends went on an adventure through time and met icons like Socrates and Joan Of Arc, which ultimately helped them ace their history test. The 1991 sequel, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, pit the duo against their robot clones and sent them hurtling into the future. Honestly, the Times has the best and most correct description of that sequel: “It received mixed reviews from critics who were wrong.”
Now, almost three decades after we last rocked out with the boys from Wyld Stallyns, it looks like they’re finally back. Maybe. Probably. We’ll see in 2020.