New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Some surprising news has leaked from the set of the upcoming third instalment of the 'Bill and Ted' movie franchise - legendary classic rock musician Jimi Hendrix is going to play a role in the film.
By the time the movie is released, Hendrix will have been dead for fifty years, but that isn't a barrier to making a cameo in a film which is all about time travel. According to reports which came out earlier this week, Hendrix has an integral role to play in the plot of the movie. With stars Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter reprising their parts from the previous films, the fate of the universe hangs in the balance unless the two cool dudes can write the greatest song in history. Incapable of achieving such a monumental task on their own, they reach out through history to assemble a crack team of musicians to collaborate with. Mozart is one of them, but fans of rock and roll will be much more excited about the presence of Hendrix. It can surely only mean good things for the movie's soundtrack!
Rather than inserting Hendrix into the film using stock footage and digital trickery, actor Dezmann Still will be stepping into Hendrix's shoes. The plot sounds a little similar to the story told in 'Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure' in 1989, which saw Abraham Lincoln, Sigmund Freud, and various other historical figures brought into what was then the present, so Bill and Ted could ace their history class at high school. High school is now a distant memory for the paid, who are well into middle age, and have jobs and children of their own. Some set reports say that their children, played by Samara Weaving and Bridgette Lundy-Paine, will join them on their trip back in time as they seek to save the human race from imminent destruction.
Crossovers with major musical icons are nothing new to Bill and Ted. In 'Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey,' the second movie, KISS were called upon to unite humanity with their song 'God Gave Rock And Roll To You.' As KISS are happily still with us - and haven't yet concluded their last-ever tour, it's not out of the question that they could also put in another appearance. As well as Hendrix and Mozart, there's an actor playing Ling Lun - an ancient Chinese musician believed to have been the first person to turn bamboo into a flute. Louis Armstrong is also represented on screen, as will Gandhi. It sounds over-the-top and unusual - which is exactly what we should expect from a Bill and Ted movie.
This isn't the first time that Jimi Hendrix has put in an appearance somewhere you wouldn't necessarily expect to see him. A character based on Hendrix appears in the video game 'Wolfenstein: The New Order,' and he even has his own mobile slots, which is available at a number of mobile slots websites. He's not the only rock musician to hold that distinction - there are also mobile slots based on Guns n Roses and Megadeth, among others. The fact that the music and likeness of Hendrix can be used to attract people to play mobile slots and video games is a testament to the guitar hero's legend - and also explains why he's been able to land a part in a brand new movie half a century after his death.
As the movie is still in the process of being made, Hendrix might not be the only rock musician who shows up in the film. Writing the greatest song of all time is no easy task, and so Bill and Ted might call up any number of music legends to help them out with their burden. We wouldn't be surprised to see 'appearances' from Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Johnny Cash, or any of the other greats of yesteryear who are no longer with us. They could even put a call in to Paul McCartney, who is very much still alive. At one point earlier on in the production process, Alex Winter alluded to the possibility of Eddie van Halen having a cameo role, although it's unclear whether the cameo survived the various re-drafts of the script since then.
The plot of the movie bears some resemblance to the song 'Tribute' by Tenacious D, in which Jack Black and Kyle Gass must write the best song ever heard in order to satisfy the Devil (as memorably played by Dave Grohl in the video), and save their own lives in the process. They're unable to remember the song precisely - hence the single being called 'Tribute' - but perhaps they'll also get a call to re-create the moment? Jack Black is a movie star, and so it would all tie together nicely.
Filming of the movie, which is working under the title of 'Bill and Ted Face The Music,' began at the start of July this year. It's provisionally scheduled for release in August 2020, although as with all films, the precise time of the release may vary depending on the progress of the shoot. It's taken some time to get the project off the ground. Nine years have passed since Keanu Reeves first confirmed that a script was being written, and then the project got stuck in 'development Hell' for years after the script was completed in 2011. By 2013 the script had been re-written at least twice, but there was still no confirmation of a director, nor any sign of a studio wishing to finance the creation of the movie. Orion Pictures eventually picked up the script in 2018, meaning that work could finally begin after almost a decade of waiting.
With rock and roll having spent years in the backseat when it comes to mainstream music, any fresh exposure to the classics has to be welcomed. We may sadly never hear any new music by Jimi Hendrix, but hopefully, the film will help to introduce him to a new audience - and perhaps even play a part in the rock soundtrack revival. If we could also have a rock band selected to play the theme for the upcoming 25th James Bond movie, that would be even better.
