Tim Burton’s ‘Beetlejuice’ Sequel Reportedly Scrapped

Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice gave audiences a wholly original experience, depicting a darkly humorous tale of a teen obsessed with death moving into a home inhabited by ghosts which she quickly befriended, only for her parents to begin to destroy the home. Michael Keaton played the titular character, a pesky ghoul who used scary tactics to rid the home of its residents. The film not only helped launch Burton’s career but also further established Keaton as a talented performer, with the two then reuniting for 1989’s Batman. Despite a number of rumors about the pair potentially delivering a sequel, recent comments from Burton seem to dash all hopes of the endeavor.

At the premiere of Burton’s Dumbo, which also stars Keaton, USA Today asked the filmmaker what was happening with the reported sequel, to which he replied, “Nothing, nothing.” When asked if anything would ever happen, Burton noted, “I don’t know. I doubt it.”

The outlet reached out to Warner Bros. directly to get a comment from studio spokeswoman Candice McDonough, who noted that “the project isn’t in active development.”

One of the last “official” updates on the project came in 2017, with Deadline having reported that a new writer was attached to the project. Whether that script was scrapped or a writer is still working on it is currently unclear.

“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,” one of the original screenwriters Larry Wilson noted. “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.”

While a film might not be on the horizon, devout fans do have Beetlejuice: The Musical to look forward to, which opens on April 25th.

“I don’t sit around in a bathrobe, watching Beetlejuice and waiting for a sequel,” Wilson confirmed. “But all eyes are going to be on that opening night. It seems like they have really reinvented the movie and it’s looking like a real hit. So we’ll sit tight until then.”

Stay tuned for details on Beetlejuice‘s future, or lack thereof.

Are you disappointed that a sequel seems unlikely? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

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