It looks like Beetlejuice 2 is actually going to be moving forward! There have been talks of a Beetlejuice sequel happening for years, and it’s been in and out of development over that time.
Well, according to The Ankler‘s Hollywood Transom newsletter the project has now landed at Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company. It’s also being reported that both Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder are expected to reprise their roles as Beetlejuice and Lydia Deetz.
They also say that the project could actually shart production as early as summer 2022. If this film is happening, I’m sure that Tim Burton is coming back to direct, because if he doesn’t, what’s the point? I don’t even think Keaton would do it if Burton wasn’t involved.
Burton was asked about the sequel a few years ago and when asked about what was going on with the Beetlejuice sequel that we have heard things about off and on for the last few years. Burton replied, “Nothing, nothing.” And when they asked his opinion on whether anything would ever happen with it, he replied, “I don’t know. I doubt it.”
One of the original screenwriters had been previously quoted while talking about a possibility of a sequel, saying, “The bottom line is, Tim Burton and Michael Keaton are not going to think about a Beetlejuice sequel unless it somehow catches the energy of the first film. And that’s not easy. Beetlejuice really was lightning in a bottle. But there have been discussions since it really shocked everyone in 1988. And in terms of [planned sequel] Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, wiser heads prevailed. Thank God there’s a level of integrity here.”
Yep, they better stay away from that Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian concept! That was a stupid idea. In the proposed sequel, the “Deetz family moves to Hawaii to develop a resort. Construction begins, and it’s quickly discovered that the hotel will be sitting on top of an ancient burial ground. Beetlejuice comes in to save the day.”
Another version of the sequel was being developed years later by The LEGO Batman Movie‘s Seth Grahame-Smith. When talking about that, he previously said, “It’s funny, when I had met with Tim about it last, and we’re talking about five years ago at this point, the reason that it’s so hard to get going is because so many people love it and because there are 10 million ways to get that sequel wrong and four ways to get it right. It’s such a very fine needle to thread that I certainly like didn’t get it there, on the script side. I didn’t thread the needle. There are things that were cool and some interesting ideas. I’ve certainly emotionally moved on from it and just said, ‘If it happens someday, it happens.'”
He continued, “Michael Keaton is just as relevant as ever, and Tim Burton is just as relevant as ever, but you have to have both of those people excited about something to do it. I couldn’t get it there personally, as a writer, but maybe somebody else can.”
Well, if the project is moving forward, then I guess that means they have a creative team that has cracked a good story to tell. Do you want to see a Beetlejuice sequel get made?