Hasitha Fernando looks at the story behind Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure as the cult classic celebrates its 35th anniversary…
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a cult classic comedy film released in 1989, that follows the time travelling shenanigans of two dim-witted but good-hearted high school friends as they try to pass their history class report. It is a movie whose charm has beguiled generations and introduced audiences to Hollywood superstar Keanu Reeves. As the flick hits 35 we revisit the goings on behind-the-scenes to get some interesting factoids regarding the making of the film.
The screenplay was based on a stand-up comedy routine
The screenplay written by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon was based on a stand-up comedy routine the duo performed – which involved discussions on current events without knowing what they were talking about – while studying at UCLA. The pair then thought of expanding the aforementioned concept into a probable spec script and during a series of meetings they had at local coffee shops, Matheson and Solomon wrote down their spec script by hand on pieces of note paper and finished their task within a matter of days. The 2005 box set of the movie features some of these handwritten notes.
In the original script the time machine was a 1969 Chevy van
In the original spec script drafted by Matheson and Solomon, the time machine was a 1969 Chevrolet van. Even the title of the movie as written in the script was Bill & Ted’s Time Van. However, this idea was discarded in favor of a phonebooth because using a van brought to mind the DeLorean from the Back to the Future franchise. But little did the writers know that the idea of using a phonebooth as a time machine was already a concept that was being done in the popular British TV show Doctor Who since 1963.
Sean Penn, Brendan Fraser & Pauly Shore auditioned for the lead roles
That’s right. Sean Penn, Brendan Fraser, and River Phoenix reportedly auditioned for the role of Bill, while Pauley Shore and Gary Riley were among the hundreds of actors considered for the role of Ted. However, when Keanu Reeves showed up for the audition director Stephen Herek knew that they’d found their Ted. At the time both Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves were relatively unknown actors with Reeves being primarily known for his role in the 1987 crime drama River’s Edge while Winter had appeared only in a few minor roles in movies up to that point.
Keanu Reeves & Alex Winter shared common interests in real life
On the day of their auditions Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter quickly bonded over the common interests they shared in real life, while waiting for their auditions to kick off. They found that they had a lot of personal details in common and possessed some serious shared affinity towards bass guitars and motorcycles. The natural chemistry that ignited between the pair prior to auditions was what made their characters of Bill and Ted so memorable and loveable onscreen, even years later.
The casting of George Carlin was a “very happy accident”
The late George Carlin is regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time. Dubbed the “dean of counterculture comedians” he was well known for his dark sense of humor, speaking openly on taboo subjects and critiquing religion and politics. During the casting process of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure director Stephen Herek had the intention of casting Eddie Van Halen as Rufus, given the frequency of Van Halen references in the screenplay. But the modest budget dissuaded him from doing so and a shortlist that included the likes of Ringo Starr, Sean Connery and Charlie Sheen were considered, but the downside was none of them were comedians. The producers of the film, Scott Kroopf and Bob Cort, recommended Carlin based on the strength of his performance in the 1987 comedy film Outrageous Fortune, and that’s how the stand-up comedian ended up playing Rufus.
Filming in the phonebooth was an unpleasant experience
Filming the scenes involving the phonebooth proved to be a very unpleasant experience for both Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. This proved to be more challenging in scenes involving the phonebooth hurtling through the ‘Circuits of Time’ with multiple passengers on board, which was actually shot using a phonebooth on a gimbal in front of a massive green screen. Oh, and multiple people needed to cram themselves inside this small booth during filming as well. Adding to the chaos were the multitude of equipment and prop failures which made life a living hell for the actors. Because of the hardships they collectively endured, Winter and Reeves nicknamed the phonebooth “The Death Box”.
The movie’s release was hampered by distribution related issues
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure was initially planned to be released in 1988, since filming and production concluded ahead of schedule. However, the original film distributor, DEG, fell into significant debt in late 1987, and by the following year they’d filed for bankruptcy. Out of options and wanting to get the effort out there, Herek proceeded to show a rough cut of the movie to potential distributors. The filmmaker got lucky when the rough cut elicited an enthusiastic response from a test audience of lucky volunteers pulled from local malls. This resulted in a bidding war of sorts and Nelson Entertainment along with Orion Pictures nabbed the distributing rights for the flick for a sum of $1 million.
Box office success, sequelitis & cult status
Made on a modest production budget of $10 million, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure managed to rake in a respectable $40 million through domestic screenings. Not a bad achievement for a movie about the two slackers engaging in some time travel shenanigans, right? The initial critical response for the effort was rather mixed but film critic Alan Jones of Radio Times chimed in with a positive review calling the effort, “A nonstop giggle from start to finish, this beguiling grab-bag of time-travel clichés, hard-rock music and Valley-speaking cool dudes is a flawless, purpose-built junk movie.”
However, the movie’s true strength lay in it enduring popularity and likeability. This resulted in the studio greenlighting multiple sequels with 1991’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey and 2020’s Bill & Ted Face the Music. The reason for the third outings delay was primarily because there were no immediate plans to make a sequel. And during the interim period all involved went on to have successful careers of their own. Interest was reignited with Keanu Reeves resurgence in popularity with the John Wick franchise, and soon Bill & Ted Face the Music was fast tracked with all key players returning.
In addition to the movie sequels, spin-off television series, comic books tie-ins from DC and Marvel, and even a theme park attraction at Universal Studios were made centered around the film’s characters. The German dubbed version of the movie went on to gain a cult status in Germany since it was credited with coining certain words that have now become part of their cultural lexicon. Words such as “Hoschi” (for “dude”) and “granatenstark” (for “excellent”) and the ever-popular quote “Be excellent to each other” which was translated as the more philosophical “Colorful and excellent is the being” were just some of the contributions made by the movie to Germany.
Overall, there is very little doubt that either Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure or its sequels be forgotten anytime soon. Chock full of laugh-out-loud humor, out-of-the-box creativity, and an endearing portrayal of friendship at its core, the Bill & Ted films will continue to survive the passages of time and be celebrated for what it gave generations of fans.
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Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
