Update: Due to inclement weather, the Bill and Ted Face the Music viewing party has been moved to 8:20 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29.
There’s been a most curious trend in cinema over the past decade: filmmakers not just churning out remakes and reboots, but rather releasing proper sequels to films that came out decades ago. It happened not only with the big franchises like Star Wars and Jurassic Park, but also Blade Runner, Bad Boys and even Mary Poppins. And now, rocketing in from the past via magical phone booth and the power of ’80s guitar licks, Bill S. Preston, Esq., and Ted “Theodore” Logan are back in action.
The unlikely heroes of the Bill and Ted movies are now receiving just as unlikely a sequel — Bill and Ted Face the Music hits limited theaters and streaming services on Aug. 28. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter return as the struggling musicians, complete with their pseudo-Valley Boy accents, for a long-awaited third entry in the series — and the two Nashvillians who host the San Dimas Today podcast couldn’t be more excited. Kelly Bolick and Jason Meares, Esq., (yes, he’s really a lawyer) started the Bill and Ted-focused podcast in 2018. Six months after the duo kicked off the podcast, Face the Music was confirmed.
“We’d like to take full credit for that happening,” jokes Bolick.
Bolick and Meares have been best friends since middle school, meeting after Bolick moved to Hendersonville and the pair bonded over music and movies — especially the first two Bill and Ted films. Part of the idea behind the podcast was to discuss the movies and what they meant to the pair growing up in the Nashville area. As music-loving suburban teens and best friends in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the hosts certainly related to the heroes. The duo also felt the films deserved more credit than they get — the cult films were “underserved in the media,” as Meares puts it.
“When we started this, there was really very little written or talked about with the Bill and Ted movies,” says Meares. “Kelly and I could talk about [the films] for hours — and we have — and it was a neat idea to actually try and add something to the culture that’s about something that’s so beloved to us.”
Producer Michael Eades, who runs the Nashville-focused We Own This Town podcast network, pushed the pair to broaden the scope of the podcast and contact people who were involved in the films. By their second episode, they landed an interview with Chris Matheson, who co-wrote all three of the Bill and Ted scripts with Ed Solomon.
“That was just a game changer,” says Meares. The podcast has since landed interviews with other key players in the franchise, from actors to composer David Newman.
For the uninitiated, 1989’s Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, the first film, follows two lackluster musicians and students at Southern California’s San Dimas High School named — you guessed it — Bill (Winter) and Ted (Reeves). The duo travels through time via a magical phone booth to recruit major historical figures like Napoleon and Joan of Arc to pass a crucial school presentation. If they fail, their band will have to break up, and they’ll never create the music that shapes the course of humanity.
“Bill and Ted were really some of the first characters that I’d ever been exposed to that really believed in the power of music,” sayes Meares. “And one thing Kelly and I have always had in common is an extreme love of music. … And to see that embodied in two different characters — it’s just amazing.”
Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, released in 1991, wasn’t as acclaimed, but still shares some of the cult status of its predecessor. How could a goofy adventure-comedy that involves murderous robot doppelgängers, journeys to heaven and hell, board-game battles against Death and a climactic battle of the bands not attract a dedicated following? The films even inspired a line of comics and a short-lived cartoon show.
Having happily consumed a pair of trailers and a one-minute clip from Face the Music (featuring the reliably funny Kristen Schaal), the hosts of San Dimas Today are most enthusiastic about the next cinematic entry, which reunites original cast members and writers. The trailers call back many of the previous entries’ elements, including the time-traveling phone booth, hell and Death, and also hint at the existence of a Bill and Ted multiverse. The duo’s daughters will also play a big role in the movie.
“I have full confidence in everything,” says Bolick. “It feels like it’s all being done in the spirit of the first two movies, having the core group together creating it. I don’t think that they would let it suck, you know?”
“All indications are [that] it’s going to be excellent,” says Meares, adding that Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest) is a perfect fit as director.
The COVID-19 pandemic has of course been a totally bogus development, trashing plans for various events and celebrations across the globe. While the San Dimas Today hosts organized an art show at Vinyl Tap to celebrate last year’s Bill and Ted Day on June 9 (or 6/9, a reference to the film’s iconic “69, dudes!” line), this year’s plans were canceled. Still, Bolick and Meares are planning a socially distanced event to commemorate the new film’s release: a viewing party on Friday, Aug. 28, at the Stardust Drive-In Theatre in Watertown.
Even in these dire times, the hosts are keeping an upbeat attitude, consistent with the protagonists’ unyielding belief that things will work out if they keep it positive. That positivity is what makes the films so enduring. Despite some instances of problematic language and elements in the first two movies, says Meares, “a lot of it has aged really, really well.” What’s more, the first film’s iconic line “Be excellent to each other” has permeated American culture, inspiring street art and tattoos.
“It’s really the spirit of the characters and what Alex and Keanu bring to it,” says Bolick. “It’s just that pure joy. And I don’t think that that ever ages. ... Bill and Ted can still shine.”
