Rumours about a sequel to Beetlejuice have been circulating for a long, long time. As far back as three years ago there was a rumour that Beetlejuice 2 was in the works at Warner Bros. Tim Burton was allegedly offered a chance to come back to the director’s chair, with David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith on scriptwriting duties.
Everything was quiet for a while, when a statement from Burton himself confirmed the sequel, and then it turned out the statement was bunk. That was followed by an actual statement by Burton that “nothing is concrete yet”, and he’s waiting for the stars to align or something before actually moving ahead.
When all is said and done though, what would a Beetlejuice sequel be without the main attraction, the man who brought Betelgeuse to life, Michael Keaton? Apparently… not much. Keaton hasn’t heard anything about the project, and, according to JoBlo, has said that “it’s possible that ship has sailed”. He doesn’t sound like he’s too keen to go digging in the past either:
The only way to do it is to do it right. So much of it was improvised and so much was beautifully handmade by the artist that is Tim Burton. If you can’t get close to that, you leave it alone. There are certain movies that are like Indian burial grounds. You never ride over them. Bad s— happens if you cross that. You don’t touch certain things. They are sacred.
Keaton has been enjoying a major comeback in his recent years, with high-profile, Oscar worthy movies like Bird-Man and Spotlight, as well as upcoming projects like The Founder and Spider-Man: Homecoming. So, perhaps he’s happy to let the past stay in the past and carry on with his newfound success.
In any case, don’t get your hopes up that the will-they-won’t-they struggle that this supposed sequel is going through will be resolved any time soon.
Last Updated: July 28, 2016
