If you’ve been waiting for that third Bill & Ted movie, then 2019 may be the year where you get one of the best Christmas presents ever!
That’s because Bill & Ted Face the Music may in fact be released in time for the Christmas 2019 movie rush. That potential (planned?) released date was revealed by filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, who is executive producing the long-awaited threequel.
Soderbergh was out promoting his new film High Flying Bird at the annual Slamdance film festival, which is held right next to the currently-running Sundance film festival in Park City, Utah. CNET got a chance to speak to Soderbergh, and came away with word that the script for Bill & Ted Face the Music is “hilarious,” and that we may see the film sooner than we think:
“Soderbergh also speculated Bill and Ted Face the Music could be released at Christmas, maybe. “That’d be a good Christmas present,” he said.”
If that turns out to be true, it would indeed be a good Christmas present – and a nice boost for Keanu Reeves’ 2019 income; the actor is also putting out another big threequel this year: the culminating chapter of his hit action franchise, John Wick. Keanu will also help shape a major quadrilogy, by lending his voice to Toy Story 4 this year.
Bill & Ted 3 was expected to start filming on January 10th according to earlier reports, with Galaxy Quest director Dean Parisot at the helm, and a new script by series writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. Franchise stars Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves are both coming back to reprise their roles as Bill S. Preston and Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan (respectively), in a storyline that will see their characters still awaiting a grand destiny and rock glory, even as middle-aged dads:
“Two would-be rockers from San Dimas, California, were once told they’d save the universe during a time-traveling adventure, but find themselves as middle-aged dads still trying to crank out a hit song and fulfill their destiny.”
The role of Bill and Ted’s mentor Rufus (played by the late George Carlin) won’t be recast for the new film, but other fan-favs like The Grim Reaper (Power‘s William Sadler) are fair game to pop up in cameos. Winter and Reeves released a statement about Bill & Ted 3, sharing their high hopes and excitement when the sequel finally gained enough momentum to roll into production:
“We couldn’t be more excited to get the whole band back together again,” Reeves and Winter said in a statement. “Chris and Ed wrote an amazing script, and with Dean at the helm we’ve got a dream team!”