Who would have thought a low-budget comedy starring two unknown actors about two time-traveling high school kids with dreams of becoming rock stars would be such a cultural hit?
Released 30 years ago, “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” raked in nearly $41 million at the box office, providing many opportunities for people to exclaim, “Excellent!” or “Bogus!” depending on the situation.
And now it’s back.
Alex Winter, who plays Bill, and Keanu Reeves, who plays Ted, announced in a video they will star in a third installment, “Bill and Ted 3: Face the Music,” slated for a summer 2020 release.
Since the breakout hit, the career paths of the two stars went in different directions. Reeves went on to become a film star in movies such as “Point Break,” “Speed,” and “The Matrix” sci-fi franchise. A period of starring in smaller romantic and dramatic roles came next before a resurgence in the John Wick shoot’em-up series. Winter found he was better behind the camera and went on to direct documentary films and television. The two actors haven’t worked together since “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey” in 1991.
The new antics of Bill and Ted represent another notch in the belt of ’80s nostalgia, similar to what we’ve seen with films such as “Blade Runner,” the Netflix series “Stranger Things,” and Americans’ fascination with British royalty.
The good news for fans of the duo is that they’ll be another chapter in the franchise instead of going the route of producing a reboot, and that’s a pretty bodacious move.
