There have been a slew of belated sequels at cinemas lately. Some, like Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, arrived for reasons of historical opportunism. Others turned up for reasons no one could really fathom: Tron Legacy arrived last year as a weirdly grandiose afterglow to a sweet little lo-fi 1980s offering.

For me, the forthcoming Bill and Ted "threequel" most definitely falls into the latter category. But back in September when this story first broke, it was remarkable to see quite how much readers of this site were champing at the bit for the return of the Wyld Stallyns and their bemusingly basic 80s rocker worldview.

Big-hair metal fans will no doubt be turning their amps up to 11 again as Keanu Reeves has revealed a few snippets of the plot for the new movie, which is currently being written. Reeves, 46, (yes, 46) says it will focus on Bill and Ted's efforts to live up to predictions of greatness made for them in 1991 sequel Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey – you know, the one in which the Death guy from Bergman's The Seventh Seal turns up and challenges the duo to a game for their souls.

"When we last got together, part of it was that Bill and Ted were supposed to have written the song that saved the world, and it hasn't happened," said Reeves. "So they've now become kind of possessed by trying to do that. Then there's an element of time and they have to go back." He added: "I believe the writers are six weeks away from a draft."

So there you have it. Alex Winter, aka Bill, who hasn't been seen much on a big screen in the last decade, is also on board for this one, so it's not all some terrible dream that can be banished by trying really, really hard to wake up. There really is going to be a 40-something Bill and Ted movie in cinemas sometime soon. Can this be a good thing?