Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020)
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Bill and Ted must write a song to unite humanity before space-time is destroyed.
The story
In 2020, Bill and Ted have failed to write a prophesied song to unite the world. Their marriages and careers are deteriorating, and time and space are beginning to collapse. Kelly, the daughter of Bill and Ted's deceased time-travelling guide Rufus, arrives to take them to the year 2720 in San Dimas, California. Her mother the Great Leader tells them that they have until 7:17 p.m. that night to create the song or reality will collapse. They use Rufus's time-traveling phone booth to retrieve the song from their future selves only to discover their future selves have failed.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 2020, Bill and Ted have failed to write a prophesied song to unite the world, causing their marriages to deteriorate and space-time to collapse. Kelly, daughter of their late guide Rufus, takes them to 2720 San Dimas, where the Great Leader demands the song by 7:17 p.m. or reality ends. After finding their future selves have failed, they are hunted by a robot named Dennis. Kelly returns to the present to meet Bill and Ted's daughters, Billie and Thea, who recruit a musical supergroup including Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ling Lun, and a prehistoric drummer named Grom. After Dennis sends the band to Hell, Bill and Ted travel to 2067 to find their elderly selves, who provide a USB drive with the fabled song. Bill destroys the USB to lure Dennis into a self-destructive explosion, sending the trio to Hell. There, they rescue their daughters and the band. They return to 2020 and realize the song must be performed by everyone in history. They use the time booth to create infinite copies of themselves, handing instruments to everyone who ever lived. The global performance repairs the universe.
- First release year
- 2020
- Runtime (minutes)
- 91
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Dean Parisot
- Writers
- Chris Matheson · screenplay; Ed Solomon · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Keanu Reeves · Bill; Alex Winter · Ted; William Sadler · the Grim Reaper; Kristen Schaal · Kelly; Samara Weaving · Thea Preston; Jack Haven · Billie Logan; Kid Cudi · himself; Anthony Carrigan · Bill & Ted's adversary
- Genres
- science fiction; comedy
- Themes
- world peace; reconciliation; legacy
- Tone and mood
- wholesomely goofy; sweet-spirited
- Premise and plot tags
- time travel; musical; sci-fi comedy; sequel
- Franchise connections
- Bill & Ted
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics for the performances and story, but it was a significant box office failure.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 65 · scale: 100 · review count: 41
- Awards and nominations
- Best Fantasy Film Release · Saturn Awards · 2021 · lost; Best Make-up · Saturn Awards · 2021 · lost
- Production trivia
- The film's production deal was not confirmed until 2018 despite the script being laid out in 2010.; The producers chose not to repeat the anti-gay slurs used in previous films.; The film's release date digits (8, 21, 20) were chosen because they add up to 69, an in-universe reference.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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