It took almost 30 years for Bill & Ted Face the Music to come together, with the iconic slacker duo spending a lot more time trapped in development hell than they ever did crammed into a phone booth trying to save the world. For the longest while, it appeared as though the movie would never happen given the number of false starts it endured over the years, and when the third installment finally arrived, it was right in the middle of a global pandemic.
Of course, there’s always an air of trepidation surrounding sequels that debut so long after the last film, and audiences have been burned plenty of times before in the past, but it would be fair to say that Face the Music lived up to expectations. The wholesome, heartwarming and hilarious comedy was enthusiastically received by longtime fans, newbies and critics alike, currently holding an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of 82% with almost 250 reviews in the bag.
Not only that, but Face the Music also managed to turn a decent profit despite the circumstances surrounding the theatrical industry, earning well over $40 million on a $25 million budget when box office takings and VOD sales are taken into account. Rumors of a fourth installment have inevitably cropped up several times over the last few months, and in a new interview, star Alex Winter admitted that he’s not ruling it out.
“We made this film because Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon came to Keanu and myself with an idea that we thought was genuinely both hilarious and emotional, which is not easy. We would never have done it, if it didn’t do both of those things because frankly there would have been no way to play the characters, if it didn’t do both of those things. We like working together. We don’t need to do another one. We don’t particularly feel there needs to be another one, but we would enjoy making another one. That’s really the honest answer. There’s nothing more to it. We are not currently planning another one.
Certainly, no one has come to us and asked us to do another one. I don’t know where those chips are gonna fall. I can tell you that, if there was interest in making another one, and Keanu and I had the ability to come in and do something that would be as satisfying as what we just did, sure. We would both be interested in doing that.”
Feel-good movies are becoming harder and harder to come by these days, and Bill & Ted Face the Music is one of the rare studio comedies that doesn’t have a cynical bone in its body, making it ideal comfort viewing. And based on the reception to the third outing, fans would definitely be on board for another one whether it ends up happening or not.
