Beetlejuice 2: Michael Keaton Wanted Sequel to Feel “Handmade”

Visual effects have evolved tremendously since Tim Burton delivered audiences Beetlejuice in 1988, but for the upcoming sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, star Michael Keaton expressed how a major goal for the project was to replicate the spirit of that debut film and create a “handmade” feel. Understandably, no one involved in the original movie knew how beloved the experience would go on to become, so it was a priority for Burton and Keaton to replicate as much of what made that debut film a hit as opposed to embracing too many contemporary cinematic techniques. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to hit theaters on September 6th. 

“The one thing that he and I decided on early, early, early on from the beginning, if we ever did it again, I was totally not interested in doing something where there was too much technology,” Keaton shared with PEOPLE. “It had to feel handmade. What made it fun was watching somebody in the corner actually holding something up for you, to watch everybody in the shrunken head room and say, ‘Those are people under there, operating these things, trying to get it right.’”

While Keaton’s career hasn’t been entirely full of CGI-heavy experiences, having starred in projects like The Flash and Spider-Man: Homecoming in recent years, it sounds as though he was excited to have returned to the filmmaking methods from his earlier collaborations with Burton.

“It’s the most exciting thing,” the actor admitted. “When you get to do that again after years of standing in front of a giant screen, pretending somebody’s across the way from you, this is just enormous fun.”

With more than 35 years having passed since the original movie, many audiences had assumed that the sequel would never move forward, but remarks from Keaton echoed how both he and Burton were only interested in resurrecting the “ghost with the most” for the right story, and the actor seems to confirm this is the story worth telling.

“It’s the most fun I’ve had on set in a long time … On one hand, you’d go, ‘Well, of course it’s the most fun. It looks like fun.’ As you know, it doesn’t always work like that,” Keaton confessed. “We thought, ‘You got to get this right. Otherwise, just don’t do it. Let’s just go on with our lives and do other things.’ So I was hesitant and cautious, and he was probably equally as hesitant and cautious over all these years … Once we got there, I said, ‘Okay, let’s just go for it. Let’s just see if we can do it, if we can pull this off.’”

Also starring in the film are Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, and Monica Bellucci.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to hit theaters on September 6th. 

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