The long-rumoured third outing for those bodacious dudes Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan may have taken a step closer to becoming a reality, with Vulture reporting that Bill & Ted creators Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson have found a director for Bill & Ted 3 in Dean Parisot, whose previous credits include the Academy Award-winning short The Appointments of Dennis Jennings (1988), cult favourite Galaxy Quest (1999), the 2005 remake Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) and the upcoming action-comedy sequel Red 2 (2013).
First announced (rather surprisingly) by Keanu Reeves back in 2010, Bill & Ted is set to reunite Reeves with Alex Winter and has been written on spec by Solomon and Matheson in order to ensure a direct sequel to 1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and 1991’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, as opposed to reboot or remake. According to Vulture, it is envisioned as a “mid-priced studio comedy like Hot Tub Time Machine’ that will catch up with the now middle-aged Wyld Stallyns in the present day (to begin with, at least), and is currently being shopped around in order to secure financing.
Much like Ghostbusters 3, I’ll be very surprised if Bill & Ted 3 ever makes it to the screen, but one thing’s for sure – if it does, it just won’t be the same without George Carlin’s Rufus. Although I do hope they manage to find room for William Sadler’s Death.
Originally published August 10, 2012. Updated April 10, 2018.
