I’m trying not think about the fact that it has been 23 years since the 1991 release of Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey, but it has certainly felt like more than a year and a half has passed since we last heard any real word on what was up with the possible third film in the comedy series. When last we heard, it was March 2013 and star Alex Winter, Bill S. Preston, Esq. himself, stated that the screenplay that Galaxy Quest director Dean Parisot had come aboard the project and franchise creators Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon were working on polishing the script. And, as Yahoo found out when they caught up with Winters to talk to hi about his role in the upcoming Grand Piano, that seems to be where things still stand.
The thing we had going against us is that word got out. That was kind of a bummer. It just takes a long time to put a movie together. Now we’re having to build this thing in public, which is fine. I just feel bad [the fans] have to get dragged through this long, boring, protracted process.
Me and [co-star] Keanu Reeves and Chris [Matheson] and Ed [Solomon] are all very close and have remained close over the years. We’d be having dinner and we’d be like, ‘is there a point? Is there a way in?’ We’d kick an idea around and go no and we would leave it alone for a bunch of years. I guess about four years ago we had an idea together that we thought was pretty great. I think it was because so much time had gone by that it was great.
It was really just the four of us and we were really very measured about it. It took time to construct the idea, it took Chris and Ed time to build the first draft. Then we put a producer together and got a director. We’ve been working on drafts for the last couple of years. The script’s been finished for a while, but comedy is so specific. We’re in that world where producers are on, financiers are on and we’re just working and reworking the script.
It is certainly good news that work is still being done on the film, though I hope that they don’t reach the point where they are over-thinking things. There is such a thing as over-polishing a screenplay, removing any of the edge that the material had. Personally, I am just hoping that Bill And Ted 3 doesn’t become a new version of the never ending development process that Ghostbusters 3 has been trapped in for the last several years.
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