Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Rufus, a time-traveling emissary from the future, must guide two bumbling high schoolers in 1988 to pass their history class and fulfill their destiny as the musical philosophers who inspired humanity's utopian future.
“History is about to be rewritten by two guys who can't spell.”
Synopsis
Bill and Ted are high school friends who start a band together. They are also on the verge of failing their history class, which would result in Ted being sent to military school. They receive assistance from Rufus, a traveler from a future in which their band forms the foundation of a perfect society. With Rufus's help, they travel through time to collect historical figures for their school presentation.
Credits
Related titles
No curated related titles yet. Use the edit affordance to add "More from this director", "Same franchise", or "Adaptation source material" entries — every change goes through the wiki review queue.
How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 65+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Larry BockShot by Tim SuhrstedtScored by David NewmanDesigned by Roy Forge Smith
Box Office
1989 · Box office
💰 Box-office hit — grossed 4.1× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$40.5M
US & Canada: $40.5M — 100% of worldwide · International: $26K (0%)
Opening weekend: $6.2M — 15% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.
Full synopsis
Also known as
- Bill & Teds verrückte Reise durch die Zeitde
- Bill Und Teds Verrückte Reise Durch Die Zeitde
- Bill Und Teds Verrueckte Reise Durch Die Zeitde
- L'Excellente Aventure de Bill et Tedfr
Community tags
Be the first to tag this page — tags appear right away. Try a theme, capability, or subject (e.g. WWII, heist, slow burn, time travel, A24).
Cast & Crew
65 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Keanu Reeves
as Ted 'Theodore' Logan
Alex Winter
as Bill S. Preston
George Carlin
as Rufus
Terry Camilleri
as Napoleon
Dan Shor
as Billy the Kid
Tony Steedman
as Socrates
Rod Loomis
as Freud
Al Leong
as Genghis Khan
Jane Wiedlin
as Joan of Arc
Robert V Barron
as Abraham Lincoln
Clifford David
as Beethoven
Hal Landon Jr
as Captain Logan
Supporting cast
43Bernie Casey
as Mr. Ryan
Amy Stoch
as Missy / Mom
J Patrick Mcnamara
as Mr. Preston
Frazier Bain
as Deacon
Diane Franklin
as Princess Joanna
Kimberley Kates
as Princess Elizabeth
William Robbins
as Ox
Steve Shepherd
as Randolf
Anne Machette
as Buffy
Traci Dawn Davis
as Jody
Duncan Mcleod
as Bartender
John Clure
as Tattooed Cowboy
Jim Cody Williams
as Bearded Cowboy
Dusty O Dee
as Old West Ugly Dude
Heather Pittman
as Kerry
Ruth Pittman
as Daphne
Richard Alexander
as Bowling Alley Manager
James Bowbitch
as John the Serf
John Karlsen
as Evil Duke
Jeanne Hermine Herek
as Mother at Waterslides
Jonathan Bond
as Waterslide Attendant
Jeff S Goodrich
as Music Store Salesman
Lisa Rubin
as Girl at Mall
Marjean Holden
as Student Speaker
Claudia Templeton
as Aerobic Saleswoman
Carol Gossler
as Aerobic Instructor
James D Nelson
as Mall Photographer
Marcia Darroch
as Store Clerk
Steven Rotblatt
as Police Psychiatrist
Ed Solomon
as Stupid Waiter
Chris Matheson
as Ugly Waiter
Mark Ogden
as Neanderthal #1
Tom Dugan
as Neanderthal #2
Ron Althoff
as Security Guard
Martha Davis
as The Three Most Important People In The World
Fee Waybill
as The Three Most Important People In The World
Clarence Clemons
as The Three Most Important People In The World
Phillip V Caruso
as Dance Photographer (uncredited)
Lee Hollingsworth
as Student (uncredited)
Greg Lutz
as Deputy (uncredited)
Michael S Murphey
as Mr. Ward (uncredited)
Golan Ramraz
as Kid at Waterslides (uncredited)
Darrell Redleaf Fielder
as Mall Goer (uncredited)
Directors
1Writers
2Producers
3Other crew
10Parents Guide
AI Personalities
Advisory Bot AI
I keep the family-safety picture honest — community advisories, AI-moderated, summarized without spin.
Ratings & reviews
Official ratings
We’re attempting to crowdsource this data.
Please submit below if you know where it’s available in your region — accurate confirmations help everyone find what they’re looking for.
Where to watch
Live · bot-verified- The Criterion ChannelStream
Gallery
Add imageNo community images for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure yet
Add a still, a storyboard, or concept art — every image gets its own page where members can discuss it.
Trailers
No trailers logged for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure yet — add the first one below.
Spot a trailer we’re missing?
Add a trailer from any film, show, or game.
Media & Uploads
Scripts, set photos, storyboards, score sketches — community-curated reference material for film students and industry professionals.
Did you or a loved one work on Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure?
Every stage matters — pitch decks and treatments from development, location scouts and table-reads from pre-production, set photos and crew anecdotes from production, edit-bay notes from post, and press kits, festival memories, or marketing ephemera from distribution. Any moment that didn't make the press tour, any document or photograph that's been sitting in a box — please share it so it's not lost to time.
We particularly welcome contributions from writers, producers, cast, crew, festival programmers, distributors, marketing teams, their families, and anyone who was there at any stage.
Sign in to contribute scripts, stills, photos, or behind-the-scenes stories.
Be the first to share something on Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.
Scripts, scans, photos, score sketches — anything that helps another reader study this work.
Memorable quotes
Browse all →No quotes logged for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure yet — add the first memorable line below.
Got a quote we’re missing?
Submit a line from any film, show, or game.
The conversation
Loading the conversation…
Comments (0)
on Bill & Ted's Excellent AdventureNo comments yet. Be the first to share what you think.
Edit history
Loading edit history…