| Bill & Ted (franchise) | |
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DVD covers of the Bill & Ted movies Excellent Adventure (left) and Bogus Journey (right) |
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| Directed by | Stephen Herek (Excellent Adventure) Peter Hewitt (Bogus Journey) |
| Produced by | Scott Kroopf (both movies) Michael S. Murphey (Bogus Journey) Joel Soisson (Bogus Journey) |
| Written by | Chris Matheson Ed Solomon |
| Starring | Keanu Reeves Alex Winter |
| Music by | David Newman |
| Release date(s) | February 17, 1989 - July 19, 1991 |
| Running time | 183 minutes (both movies, in total) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30,000,000 (both movies, in total) |
| Box office | $78,522,552 (both movies, in total) |
Bill & Ted is a series of two films (and their spin-offs) featuring Ted Theodore Logan (Keanu Reeves) and Bill S. Preston Esq. (Alex Winter) as two metalhead slackers who travel through time. The first Bill & Ted film, Excellent Adventure, was released on February 17, 1989, followed two years later by Bogus Journey. A third film, currently untitled, is expected to be released in 2013. Usually starring Reeves and Winter, Christopher Kennedy played Bill and Evan Richards played Ted in the 1992 version of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures.
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Excellent Adventure introduces Bill Preston and Ted Logan who are trying to write a history report, and encounter a traveler from the future who gives them access to a time machine (shaped like a telephone booth) which allows them to travel back in time and where they meet historical figures and learn about key historical events. If Bill and Ted fail to pass, their teacher will have to flunk them and Ted's father will transfer him to an Alaskan military academy. In this movie, it is also revealed that Bill and Ted are in a band called the Wyld Stallyns.
Bogus Journey sees Bill and Ted being killed by robot doubles who capture their fiancées, and their attempts to get back from the afterlife by challenging the Grim Reaper to a series of games. Bill and Ted (along with the Grim Reaper) eventually return to present-day Earth just prior to the Wyld Stallyns' performance at the Battle of the Bands, which takes place later that night.
In 2010, Reeves indicated that Matheson and Solomon were working on a script for a third film.[1][2]
Winter has stated that the role of Rufus (previously played by the late George Carlin) would not be recast.[3]
In April 2011, Reeves stated that a third film was close to happening.[4] On April 24, 2011, Winter tweeted that the script for the third installment had been finished.[5]
The plot is suspected to be about Bill and Ted writing a song that could save the world, though in a pre-San Diego Comic-Con International interview Alex Winter stated the storyline may also involve time travel to the prehistoric era and the film would likely see a cameo by Eddie Van Halen as well as the return of popular characters Socrates and Billy the Kid from the first movie.[6]
The first season was produced by Hanna-Barbera and ran for 13 episodes on CBS in 1990, featured the voices of Carlin, Winter, and Reeves returning to their roles in the film. A second season of eight episodes ran on Fox Kids and was produced by DIC Entertainment, with none of the original cast.
A later live-action series, featuring none of the cast from the film, included Evan Richards as Bill and Christopher Kennedy as Ted (who also voiced the same roles from the animated season produced by Dic).[7] This version aired seven episodes in 1992 on Fox.
A one-shot comic book adaptation of the sequel was published to coincide with the second film's release. Its popularity led to the series Bill and Ted's Excellent Comic Book by Evan Dorkin and produced by Marvel Comics.
A cereal based on the cartoon adaptation. It was made by the now-defunct Ralston Purina. It was short-lived, like the cartoon, and it included many giveaways and promotions.
A musical based on the film was produced in 1998 called Bill and Ted's Excellent Musical Adventure.[8]
There were also Game Boy, NES and Atari Lynx games released, which were very loosely based on the film's plot. A PC title and nearly identical Amiga and Commodore 64 port were made in 1991 by Off the Wall Productions and IntraCorp, Inc. under contract by Capstone Software and followed the original film very closely.
A single player graphic adventure PC game based on the 1989 film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. It was released by Capstone for DOS, Commodore 64, and Amiga systems in 1990
An action-puzzle game loosely based on Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
A video game for the Atari Lynx handheld based on the Bill & Ted films and the Saturday morning cartoon.
An action-adventure video game based on Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure that was released in North America by LJN for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
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