Arizona has been a popular destination for film crews dating back to the 1930s. Our state’s vast desert terrain has provided ideal settings for many Western films. For recent transplants to the state, they might not realize that one film dating back to 1989, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, was mostly filmed in the Valley. Watching the movie, locals might recognize landmarks such as Metrocenter Mall, Golfland Sunsplash, and Coronado High School in Scottsdale. 

“Bill & Ted Face The Music,” the third installment of the Bill & Ted franchise is currently in pre-production. The original stars of 1989’s “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” Keanu Reeves (Ted) and Alex Winter (Bill,) are returning for Bill & Ted 3. We last saw the pair in “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey,” which came out in 1991.

It should match the antics of the original two films, because original screenwriters Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon have teamed up to pen the script. “Galaxy Quest’s” Dean Parisot has been confirmed as the film’s director.

According to Reeves and Winter, everyone is excited to “get the whole band back together again.”

Time has passed for Bill & Ted, who are now middle-aged family men, and they have yet to fulfil their dream of writing the best song ever written. As it turns out, the fate of the world rests on their ability to fulfil the goal of their younger selves, and time travel is required to do it. Fans of the original will not be disappointed: they still love to play air guitar and they still live by their creed “be excellent to one another.”

Movie goers will have a chance to “party on” with the cast when the movie is released in the coming months.