Update: October 12, 2014 – John Murdy has elaborated his stance on shows on Twitter, noting that shows may return at next year’s event. Having said that, chances still remain slim that Bill & Ted will return to Hollywood anytime soon given his previous statement.
October 12, 2014 – As Halloween Horror Nights continues on this year, a common question amongst guests pertains to the lack of any night time shows. Specifically, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure is nowhere to be found and based on recent comments from John Murdy, Creative Director of Halloween Horror Nights, it’s not going to be coming back.
Last year, with a week remaining of Halloween Horror Nights, Universal Studios pulled the plug on the show, stating “After thoughtful consideration, Universal Studios Hollywood has made the decision to discontinue production of the Halloween Horror Nights’ ‘Bill & Ted’ show for the remainder of its limited run.” The general consensus has been that it was cancelled after complaints emerged focused on the homophobic portrayal of Superman.
While Murdy is the face of Halloween Horror Nights, he has stated on multiple occasions he is not in charge of the show and it exists independent of him. When casting calls were posted for Halloween Horror Nights earlier this year, and no mention was found referencing Bill & Ted, it became obvious it was not to return for 2014. Since that time, fans have constantly pleaded with Murdy to have the show return, in all forms afforded to them, from Twitter to the Q & A at the ScareLA Convention. The typical response of Murdy has been to ignore them outright or to remind the fans he has no involvement with the show or the show’s cancellation.
However, tonight bore witness to his first public statement on Bill & Ted to a response on Twitter. Replying to a typical plea, he stated “Did a seventh maze instead, don’t think we’ll see that return.” It needs to be restated that up to this point, he has avoided mentioning anything pertaining to the show, or lack thereof, so making a statement like this carries more weight than a typical public relations response. While the show may be out of his control, he would still likely be privy to such knowledge about the show’s future.
It may simply be too controversial to attempt to resurrect Bill & Ted, but shows are an important part of Halloween events. The shows, featuring black comedy and choreography, provide a welcome break from the onslaught of gore and scares, and a way for crowds to rest their feet. They also hold hundreds of people at a time, and help keep wait times down across the park. Without the show this year, wait times for mazes have ballooned to absurd levels, easily passing 2 hours within a few minutes of opening. Shows not involving the time-traveling duo are possible. From 2006 to 2008, WaterWorld played host to Slaughterworld, an adult-version of the famous stunt show.
While Orlando continues to have Bill & Ted for their event, it seems quite certain that in 2015, Hollywood will continue to forge its own path.
Should any more news relating to Bill S. Preston, Esquire, and Ted “Theodore” Logan spring up, Inside Universal will have you covered.
Thanks for the tip, William W!
Chris Glass is an editor for Inside Universal.
Chris is a Los Angeles native who grew up around some of the best theme parks in the world. His day job as a game programmer keeps him busy enough, but he still tries to find time on the weekends to get out to Universal Studios. He lives with a lingering guilt for not riding Back to the Future: The Ride enough times before it closed down, but there will always be Universal Studios Japan on his bucket list.
