Bill & Ted 3 - Excellent!

Alex Winter -- Bill S. Preston, Esq. of the eponymous duo -- has confirmed that Bill & Ted 3 is in the works. Though it is too early to know for certain if the project will get a greenlight, Winter says writing team, Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, are working on an idea for the third installment of the most excellent duo. The project began coming together back in March, when former co-star, Keanu Reeves publicly joked that he would be interested in pursuing a third installment of the classic, teenage, stoner comedy.

Winter told MTV the idea had been "kicked-around for years," but scheduling conflicts (well, Reeves' scheduling conflicts) and the fact that George Carlin, who played the team's temporal custodian, Rufus, died in 2008, as well as the lack of a story, "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," stymied the project. However, Winter said the team has come up with an idea they think is "pretty great," without being cynical or just an excuse to spawn another generation of lame sequels, starring Bill and Ted's kids.

"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."

Winter also told MTV that Carlin's role would not be recast, and they are "trying to be clever" in reworking the part so as not to lose the spirit of Rufus' character and place in the Bill and Ted mythos.

While it's too early to guess at when a Bill & Ted 3 will hit theaters, Winter joked, "We would love to not be doing this when we're 60, I'll leave it at that."

© C Harris Lynn, 2010