Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Dances Toward $100 Million Opening

Beetlejuice comes out of the gates strong.

By Aaron Perine

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is already dancing towards $100 million at the box office. Friday's take for the Tim Burton sequel pulled in $41 million. That's a great number for September at the movies. In fact, if Beetlejuice Beetlejuice stays on this course, we could be in for the second-best start to a theatrical run in history for the early fall frame. The entire vibe around the Michael Keaton return stands in stark contrast to where the movie industry was this time last year. (Strikes prevented actors from hitting the entertainment circuit to spark interest. Something that seems to have clearly limited last year's releases in a big way.)

There's just something about seeing Burton, Keaton and Winona Ryder back together again that is pushing people towards the theater. Adding in the presence of Wednesday and Scream star Jenna Ortega also ignited interest among some younger fans too. But, probably underreported, is the idea that this is a distinctly "fall" movie and with College Football Saturdays and a full NFL slate tomorrow, people were looking for something to make them feel that chill in the air.

How Good Is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?

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(Photo:

A return to the familiar.

- Warner Bros. Pictures)

With so many people heading off to the theater to see what all the fervor is about, the question of how good the sequel is hangs in the fall air. ComicBook's Kofi Outlaw reviewed Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and praised Burton's return to familiar territory. In his estimation, Keaton still has that fastball working too. However, even with all the good vibes surrounding Beetlejuice this time around, it's hard to shake the feeling of so many years gone by.

"In terms of production, Beetlejuice 2 is both Burton pulling off a significant return to form, and showing off new talent for filmmaking gained over the years," Outlaw argues. "It's equally true that Burton and Michael Keaton haven't lost a step: Keaton's scenes as Betelgeuse are the highlight of the sequel – though a lot of viewers may forget, in their nostalgia, that Keaton had limited screen time in the original, and the same is true with this sequel." 

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He continues, "The same is true of Burton's vision of the afterlife and mythos: it's a return to a familiar and darkly funny vision of death but also gets weighted with more serious moments that feel in conflict with Burton's irreverent and campy take on gore and horror." 

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