God may have given rock ‘n’ roll to you, but it’s up to man to make musical theater: That’s our initial takeaway from news that Chris Matheson, the prolific screenwriter best known for co-writing all three films in the Bill & Ted franchise, is working on a musical version of the series. Specifically, Playbill reports that Matheson has entered into development on Bill & Ted’s Most Excellent Rock Opera, which will “follow its titular characters as they transform their legendary time-travel history report into a live rock opera.”
Matheson most recently returned to the franchise for 2020’s cute, if decidedly inessential, Bill & Ted Face The Music, which he co-wrote (as with all of these films) with Ed Solomon. (Who’s not involved in the musical project, as far as we can tell.) This time around, he’s working in collaboration with Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle on the show’s score, as well as in partnership with Emerson College, Berklee College of Music, and Boston Conservatory, creating a version of Bill & Ted that will allow students at those schools to work with industry professionals on the musical—all presumably racking their brains to find the best rhyme possible for “San Dimas High School football rules!”
It’s not clear just yet if the musical will exist in the continuity of the films, which followed Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter’s characters into their middle-aged years, and introduced their daughters, Thea and Kelly, as the actual musical geniuses of the family. (Although press materials do promise the musical will “see the return of such franchise-favorite historical figures as Beethoven, Joan of Arc, Abraham Lincoln, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, and Sigmund Freud,” who will make up the members of Bill and Ted’s onstage band.) Matheson, for his part, just sounds excited to play with these characters yet again, saying in a statement, “This project gave us an opportunity to revisit Bill and Ted in a way that feels true to the spirit of the films that Ed and I created together, while creating something entirely new and organic for the stage. At its heart, the story is still about friendship, music, and the idea that optimism can change the world. We need to play with each other, in the end that’s what Bill and Ted is all about.”
Bill & Ted’s Most Excellent Rock Opera is currently aiming at a 2027 premiere in Boston.
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