‘Bill and Ted 3′ Update: Keanu Reeves Says Financing Is Keeping Us From Seeing This Crazy Sequel

It's been a long road to a third 'Bill and Ted' movie, but with stars Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter both on board for the new sequel and the original writers back with a script, what's been the hold up? Scheduling? Waiting for the right draft of the script? Not so, according to Reeves, who explains that it's something a little more typical: "show business stuff."

In an interview with Coming Soon, Reeves responded at length to an inquiry about the status of 'Bill and Ted 3,' the long-awaited sequel to two very excellent and nostalgic adventures. Reeves confirmed that original film writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon have both returned, and while they're perfecting the script, they also have budgeting issues to contend with:

Chris and Ed have been working really hard over a couple of years to get the draft in the right place. What is the reason to make this movie besides nostalgia or the love of these characters. Where can they be in their life that can be a story that is worth telling or has something in it and is funny? They have that. It didn't help that the first script that they brought in was probably budgeted at $150 million dollars. I don't know if Bill & Ted carry that much weight. Part of the argument is that it's not that popular internationally, that's where so much of the funding for movies comes from these days. They've worked on the script and the budget, just trying to get the right script and then get the business side wrapped up, financiers and rights, all the show business stuff.

Reeves also mentions that 'Galaxy Quest' director Dean Parisot is still interested in directing the sequel, and discusses plot details:

'Dude, we have to write the song!' The future comes back and says if you don't write the song by this certain time the universe is going to unravel and history and everything is going to change and dinosaurs are gonna walk the Earth. Jesus is playing baseball! All sorts of weird things start unraveling and wormholes are twisting. We have to kind of bring order back, and it's connected into bringing our families together by writing a song.

There's some other details in the interview, but the main takeaway is that it doesn't seem like 'Bill and Ted 3' is going to happen until they figure out some budgeting and financing issues, which could take a little time. Reeves and Winter are both willing, and the script is pretty much there, but will they still be able to make the movie, and will audience interest still remain by the time they've sorted out the financing?

It's also cool to note that Reeves and everyone involved seem to be keenly aware that there needs to be more reason to make this movie beyond mere nostalgia, which is refreshing in our modern movie landscape. Station!