Alex talks to What's Trending about Bill & Ted 3

 

 

 Alex Interview with Daily Motion about Bill & Ted 3

 

 

---

March 9, 2013

For fans wondering about the status of Bill & Ted 3, Alex Winter cleared the air in an interview he gave to SlashFilm.com reporter Germain Lussier on March 6th.  Lussier asked, "At this point, what?s the hold up?  Do you think it?s actually going to happen?"  Alex responded, "Well the funny thing is there really isn?t a hold up.  Nothing held it up other than it got leaked really early in the process, so these things take a ****load of time to get bobbed around and we are really just in the process.  It?s really mundane to report the day-to-day process of trying to get a movie made.  "Right now they?re doing a rewrite?"  You know?  That?s my news, "they are doing a rewrite."  That will take a while and then we will look at it and that might need another rewrite and that will be my next bit of news.  So it?s just like?  The short answer is it got leaked way too early.  It got leaked just as we started, me and Keanu and Chris and Ed, the two writers just started to put it together.  Then you?ve got the whole genesis of putting it together in front of you still, which is where we are at now.

Germain Lussier went on to comment, "And we were just talking about media and Napster as sort of the whole reporting of films has sort of changed," to which Alex responded, "Well completely.  I mean absolutely.  There?s such a constant?  The flow of information?  The comprehension of how things work has not caught up with the flow of information.  Do you know what I mean?  So that often leads to confusion, because people are just like "Well I read about this four years ago" and I?m like "Well yeah, but it takes four to six years to get most of this stuff made."  It?s just where we are at, and look I don?t have any problem with the fact that it got leaked, because it?s nice that people are interested in talking about it.  It?s not like you could complain that people are interested and we all feel kind of jazzed that people give a crap frankly.  We?re just off trying to make sure that if we do it, it?s good."

So be patient, most excellent compadres!  The movie will happen when it's time!

---

January 27, 2013

After a lengthy silence with no further news about Bill & Ted 3 on the horizon, we've finally been given a tidbit of hope by Alex Winter himself!  In response to a tweet in which someone commented about the Alex's upcoming documentary (Downloaded) looking great and asking if it's true about Bill & Ted 3, Alex answered with the following: "Thnx!  doc's out this year.  Looking to shoot BaT3 in 2013 too RT."  While "looking to shoot" would indicate the specifics of when and if this will happen are still pending, it's good to know the project may finally be a go!  We'll keep you posted as more information becomes available!

 

---

August 27, 2012

Keanu was interviewed by ITN and gave a few hints about what the third Bill & Ted movie would be about.

 

 

---

March 5, 2012

Probably the strangest day of sudden excitement over the potential third Bill & Ted movie in some time, wherein old news was suddenly new news and the media had a field day over basically nothing.  What happened was simply this: On March 4th Alex Winter responded to a tweet on his Twitter page, saying this (Alex's responses are in blue): "?@kelly_carlin: is it true?  Bill & Ted's 3??  >  Hey Kelly. - Script done?  Check.  - We love it?  Check.  - Green light?  Working on it!"

Suddenly on March 5th it seemed like every movie news website had a blurb announcing the completion of the third Bill & Ted script and the project was simply waiting to be greenlighted, which sent fans buzzing about the movie finally being a done deal.  Essentially the articles stated just that little bit of information and quoted Alex's Twitter comment and nothing more, yet their tone was that this was some amazing piece of news.

But wait . . . haven't we known for some time that the script for the third movie was completed and waiting to be greenlighted?  Alex Winter explained this in some detail at a New York screening of Freaked and Death Wish 3 on January 14th (see below.)  The truth is nothing has really happened to warrant such news, or maybe the news media is just a bit slow on the uptake (or can't read anything longer than a Twitter posting to catch up with what's going on!)

But the truly interesting thing about this exchange on Alex's Twitter page which NO ONE in the media seemed to pick up on is the fact that Kelly Carlin, who went on to say she had appeared in the first Bill & Ted movie as one of the air-guitaring domeheads in the future is, in fact, George Carlin's daughter!!  And that is truly excellent indeed!!

 

---

January 14, 2012

Alex Winter attended a screening of his cult classic Freaked, as well as Death Wish 3, at 92YTribeca in New York and also participated in an audience-involved Q&A session.  On Indiewire's blog section, The Playlist, Cory Everett covered the event in great detail, including Alex's response to the inevitable question, "What is the current status of the third Bill & Ted movie?"

"When asked about the status of a third ?Bill & Ted? script, Winter said though he and Keanu were enthusiastic about the completed script (by original writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon), it was ?early days? and that anything could happen.  He did describe the script as ?f***ing weird? but ?funny? and (with a wink) ?hugely bankable.?

Though it?s been over twenty years since the last 'Bill & Ted' outing, that hasn?t dulled the anticipation for another installment and both Reeves and Winter are asked constantly about a third film in their Excellent trilogy.  Back in April, Keanu Reeves said they were six weeks away from a finished draft and that was a few months after he jokingly pitched Werner Herzog as the director, which Herzog later jokingly considered.  The last update on the project was shortly afterward when Winter tweeted that he?d received a finished draft.  When asked what the status of the sequel was, he was candid.

?I don?t know.  In all frankness, it?s just a slow universe.  It took us fifteen years to come up with an idea that we thought we?d want to do.  We is just me and Keanu [Reeves] and Chris [Matheson] and Ed [Solomon, co-writers of the original 'Bill & Ted' films] and we?re all really close friends.  We talk about it from time to time and we see each other a lot anyway.  It?s always like, ?Is there anything there to do?  Is there a ?there? there??  A couple years ago, we were having dinner and we came up with an idea which has evolved over the years that we thought was really great.  And we spent another year developing it just the four of us.  Then Chris and Ed spent another year writing it.  And the script only got finished two months ago and it?s really green.  It?s the beginning of what could be nothing, frankly," Winter candidly said.  "There?s hooplah because frickin? Reeves keeps blathering about it.  Every time he?s interviewed he talks about it and he?s one of my closest friends and I love him dearly but I think he?s got a very post-modern sense of humor.  I think he?s doing it partially just to f*** with people.  Because if he says it, everyone goes crazy and I think he just goes ?Muah ha ha?.  [But] we wrote a script, we like it, we don?t really even have the rights.  We kinda have the rights.  There?s a long road of crap we have to deal with before it ever, if it ever, becomes a movie.  I can tell you that Chris and Ed are really great writers and the script is fantastic so it would be fun to do.  I really don?t care that much to be honest with you . . . but if it doesn?t get made I?ll post the script on the net.  People will see what we did in some form.  It?s a really, really, really good script.  They did a great job, it?s funny as hell, and it?s really weird.  It?s not like some lame-ass retro thing.  It?s f***ing weird. It?s really weird.  But funny and hugely bankable if anyone is recording this.?

He also shot down the rumors that Herzog would film the third installment.  ?Herzog said yes, not knowing anything about it.  Jokingly.  No one asked him officially? and again stressed it was really early and they were still figuring out how to go about doing it and who to get money from.  Winter also said he would definitely not direct it.

---

May 2, 2011

Rich Z at Film Buff Online talked with Alex Winter at the Chiller Theater autograph show in New Jersey and asked him what he thought about the script.  Alex wouldn't go into any details but did say it was a first draft and that it looked good.  He also emphasized once again that the movie is not a done deal.

 

---

April 24, 2011

Alex Winter has been amusing and educating fans with his posts on Twitter, and on April 24th, 2011, he posted the following Tweet, which was in response to a fan's comment: "@antmaurizio: Bill and Ted 3, less than 6 weeks away and counting? Movie is gonna kick some ass."  Alex's response was, "Just got the script.  And now to read..."  This set off a new wave of reports across the online entertainment blogs and sites (who are hip enough to care) that the script for the third movie was done!  These included reports on websites such as SequelBuzz.com, FilmBuffOnline and even The Huffington Post!  Less reported but even funnier was a response some days later to another fan's comment: "@JMdoubleU: can you sum up the new Bill & Ted script in one word?"  Alex's reply?  "no"

 

---

Bogus Information

Unfortunately, as legitimate as these newest Bill & Ted 3 stories are, there is always going to be some bogus information floating around the web.  Amongst these are reports that the title of the new movie will be Bill & Ted's Righteous Experience.  While we can't confirm that this isn't a possible name for the movie, there is already a Facebook page up using this name which appears to be completely fake (none of the information posted there makes much sense.)  And already a Bill & Ted 3 website has cropped up which uses an uncredited fan-made poster from DeviantArt as its primary artwork and links to the other Bill & Ted movies for sale on Amazon.com, something a movie studio probably would not do.  (Their Facebook page, however, has become quite popular and they are now providing up-to-date information on the new movie, but we just want to clarify that as far as we know it is a fan-run site and not a site set up by a movie studio for the film.)

We will continue to do our best to keep up with any and all information regarding a third movie and do everything we can to separate the excellent news from the bogus news!

 

---

April 5, 2011

Keanu made an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in which he again talked about the possibility of a third Bill & Ted movie and the fact that Ed and Chris came up with an idea and are currently working out the script!

 

---

April 4, 2011

Keanu is back on MTV talking about what he knows about the third Bill & Ted script which Ed and Chris are currently working on!  "I believe the writers are six weeks away from a draft," Keanu explained, then added jokingly, "No pressure, guys!"  When asked by MTV reporter Josh Horowitz for details of the third movie, Keanu offered, "I know a little bit.  But I don't know . . . the fellas [Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson] went off and cooked it up.  I don't know what happened when they put the elements together."  However, Keanu did try to offer some insight into their thoughts behind the third movie.  "When we last got together, part of it was that Bill and Ted were supposed to have written the song that saved the world, and it hasn't happened.  So they've now become kind of possessed by trying to do that.  Then there's an element of time and they have to go back."

The third movie-to-be sounds more exciting and promising all the time!!

 

---

February 5, 2011

Alex continued to sound optimistic (yet realistic) during an interview with Icon to Icon where he was asked about all the rumors surrounding a possible third Bill & Ted film.  "You know that?s a possibility.  Reeves has been pretty vocal about it so there?s no point in me lying to people at this point!  [laughs]  We are working on a script with Chris and Ed, the two writers.  And it?s really ? it?s pretty low-fi.  We?re gonna have a look and see what we all think and see if it?s worth pursuing and we?re really happy with what they?ve been coming up with so far.  I think it?s pretty great and could have a reason for being.  And if it does have a reason for being we?ll go about trying to make it happen!"

 

---

October 23, 2010

Alex and Keanu were spotted by paparazzi from TMZ.com (courtesy of SplashNewsOnline.com) going to a movie together ( the epic film Carlos by director Olivier Assayas) at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, which added fuel to the fire of the current B&T 3 rumors.

 

---

September 23, 2010

The folks at MTV have always been on the ball when it comes to everything Bill & Ted, and they came through once again when reporter Josh Wigler contact Alex Winter (via Twitter!) to get his side of the story.  Most surprisingly (and excitingly) Alex went a step further than Keanu in admitted that Ed and Chris were indeed working on a script for a third Bill & Ted movie (you can read the original MTV article by clicking here!)

Alex was quoted in the report: "We kicked around the idea over the years and had always thought if we could make something that was as kind of genuine in spirit as the originals and without falling prey to kind of retro cynicism or something that was unnecessary, it would be worth doing.  Now the cat's out of the bag, and the truth is that, yeah, we have finally hit upon an idea that we think is pretty great.

"We've been working on it for the past couple of years, honing that idea and getting it into shape.  [Screenwriters Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon] are working on it now.  The bottom line is that we still feel like we need to sit down and look at a script and see if it's everything that it can be before we set about doing anything with it."  Alex was quick to insist the movie would not take a cynical viewpoint.  "The essence of what we've always wanted to do is to make a 'Bill & Ted' movie.  We don't want to make a cynical 'here's Bill & Ted -- you guys are our kids, now YOU guys go be Bill and Ted and the franchise can live for another 25 years!'  It's not that.  It's a straight up, what's the funniest and most surprising take on where Bill and Ted would be right now if we stopped back in on them?  That's what we're doing."

Even more comforting to all original fans of the movies was the way Alex said they would handle the loss of George Carlin as Rufus, assuring the reporter that the issue has been difficult to get around but that they have no intention of simply replacing him.  "That would be horrible.  That's the thing about the movies -- they're personality-based.  It's Reeves' personality when he's doing comedy, it's my personality and it was George's personality.  It doesn't really work when you're pretending that other people are those people, because there's just not that much there [otherwise].  No, we're definitely not going to recast Rufus."

So now this had become more than just a rumor, this was something more solid and concrete than anything we'd heard before.  And yes we had to continue to explain to fans that a script in the works is a long way away from a movie in actual production.  But things at least look hopeful at last!

 

---

September 17, 2010

Just when we thought this latest batch of B&T 3 rumors would calm down, we were surprised (and quite happily so!) when Keanu was asked about them by MTV during his walk on the red carpet at the Academy Awards.  MTV reporter Josh Horowitz asked Keanu point blank if there was going to be a third Bill & Ted movie.  Keanu's response (which you can view by clicking here) was both interesting and promising!  "We're trying.  Alex and I are still friends and we're talking, and we're talking to Chris and Ed," Reeves said.  "They're going to try and see if they can write something.  To me, I'd love to play the role.  I'd love to work with Alex and Chris and Ed again.  We'll see what they do.  If it's a film that can stand up on its own ... and I'm meeting people now, they've shown the film to their kids.  "We just seek to entertain, and if that could be something that could be worthwhile, on its own ... "

This took many fans by surprise.  For years there had been speculation online (not at this website, I would like to point out!) that Keanu was the one holding up a possible Bill & Ted 3 simply because he was "too important" or "had moved beyond" playing such a role.  This was preposterous supposition on the part of rumor mongers online and this interview helped dispel that myth once and for all!

Still, Keanu was not saying there was a third Bill & Ted movie definitely in the works, just that he was open to such a project!  It seemed to actually verify our thoughts that this was again a case of Alex and Keanu both saying they wouldn't mind playing Bill & Ted again if the right script could be written and confirming that Ed and Chris would have to be the ones to do it.  We expected things to calm down once again, but then Alex decided that since Keanu had spoken, he could now speak freely as well . . . .

 

---

August 2010

The first hint of any rumors regarding a third Bill & Ted project happened in early September 2010 when Alex Winter, Ed Solomon and Kimberely Kates made a special guest appearance at a screening of both Bill & Ted movies at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles (the screenings took place on two nights and Alex attended both nights, while Ed and Kate attended only the second night.)  During the question and answer session Alex conducted with the audience on that first night, someone asked if there were any plans for a third Bill & Ted movie.  Alex replied that they weren't in any rush to make it, but if the right script came along then definitely.  This innocent and honest answer sparked off an amazing amount of rumors across the internet, leading to an all-new rash of "There's going to be a third Bill & Ted movie!" articles amongst entertainment-related sites and publications.

Alex was quick to try to douse the flames of this rumor outburst, offering the following comments on his Twitter page, "All I said about b&t @newbeverly is me, Keanu, Ed & Chris have kicked ideas around over the years.  Everything else on the net is conjecture."  We naturally assumed that this was just another case of anxious fans jumping the gun and reading much more into someone's comments than should have been intended.  But then Keanu had his say on the subject . . . .