Just over 30 years after their first ‘excellent adventure, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter return as the title characters in Bill & Ted Face the Music, which Reeves recently called a ‘scrappy independent movie.’
Fans have been clamoring for this sequel for nearly three decades, following 1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and the 1991 follow-up Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.
After years upon years of delays and false starts, the movie will finally arrive on August 28, with both Reeves and Winter, both 55, speaking about the sequel with Total Film and shedding some new light on the project.
Reeves returns: Just over 30 years after their first ‘excellent adventure, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter return as the title characters in Bill & Ted Face the Music, which Reeves recently called a ‘scrappy independent movie’
The sequel picks up in present day, with Bill S. Preston Esquire (Winter) and Ted Theodore Logan (Reeves) now middle-aged dads.
The hard-rocking duo were told in the first two movies, upon visiting the future, that they would write the song that would save the world.
Years later, they still haven’t done so, when they are warned by a visitor from the future that they must fulfill their destiny.
Dads: The sequel picks up in present day, with Bill S. Preston Esquire (Winter) and Ted Theodore Logan (Reeves) now middle-aged dads
Reeves said that the ‘scrappy’ nature of the film is, part of the charm,’ adding, ‘this movie is very much in the spirit of the other two films across the board.’
He added fans will get, ‘Easter egg cameos, and there are other important musical figures that are prominent.’
‘I don’t want to give too much of it away but the spirit of it, all the way down to the soundtrack… it’s a Bill & Ted movie, straight up,’ Reeves said.
Charm: Reeves said that the ‘scrappy’ nature of the film is, part of the charm,’ adding, ‘this movie is very much in the spirit of the other two films across the board’
William Sadler returns as Death for the sequel, though while Reeves wouldn’t reveal any of the cameos, his co-star Winter added, ‘People will recognize them as who they are from the get-go.’
‘They haven’t turned into different people. But a lot of the comic conceit comes from that idea. If you’ve got two normally unstoppable, persevering characters like this who are faced with a pretty great challenge, and they’re older, and they’re dealing with the realities of life on top of the challenges they’re facing, then what does that do?’ he added.
Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest) directs from a script by original Bill & Ted writers Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson, with Parisot admitting they didn’t have a big budget to work with.
Death returns: William Sadler returns as Death for the sequel, though while Reeves wouldn’t reveal any of the cameos, his co-star Winter added, ‘People will recognize them as who they are from the get-go’
‘I would say, for production, we probably had the amount of money we’d get to make a television pilot,’ Parisot joked. ‘And we had to make a movie that takes place in Hell, and has the destruction of space and time, and the future prosthetics.’
The director added that a number of ‘well-known artists’ who have won awards for their work ‘took incredible pay cuts and did anything to accomplish this project.’
‘I think it’s because there’s such a love for these characters and what they represent. We have struggled the entire time to eke out something that we loved. But it’s a testament to everyone’s commitment, because both Keanu and Alex, and Chris and Ed, never gave up. But that sort of made it all great fun,’ Parisot said.
Bill & Ted Face the Music, which also stars Samara Weaving and Bridget Lundy-Paine as Bill and Ted’s daughters, Jayma Mays as Princess Joanna, Erinn Hayes as Princess Elizabeth and Holland Taylor as The Great Leader, will be released on August 28.
Pay cuts: The director added that a number of ‘well-known artists’ who have won awards for their work ‘took incredible pay cuts and did anything to accomplish this project’
Cast: Bill & Ted Face the Music, which also stars Samara Weaving and Bridget Lundy-Paine as Bill and Ted’s daughters, Jayma Mays as Princess Joanna, Erinn Hayes as Princess Elizabeth and Holland Taylor as The Great Leader, will be released on August 28