Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Director Tim Burton Addresses Making Sequels to His Other Classics

Filmmaker Tim Burton has delivered audiences a number of classics throughout his career, with his upcoming Beetlejuice Beetlejuice marking a return to the world he created in the original 1988 movie, but fans shouldn’t anticipate him reviving any other of his dormant creations anytime soon. Burton recently recalled how he was considering leaving studio directing behind entirely, though his work on the Netflix TV series Wednesday, as well as the nature of the story for the Beetlejuice sequel, is what made him interested in making that jump back into the studio system. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to land in theaters on September 6th.

During a recent press event, per /Film, Burton was asked if this experience inspired him to return to any other of his works, to which he replied, “No. In fact, I think I would say the opposite, in a funny way. Because I’ve done that a little bit, and I feel if I do something next, I mean I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I want to do something where … I think I almost got out of making movies after my last one. Because I just didn’t feel this whole studio thing.”

The “last one” which Burton is referring to is 2019’s live-action Dumbo, one of Disney’s many attempts to revive an animated classic in the realm of live-action. Burton’s Dumbo took in $353.3 million worldwide, which fell short of expectations, while its critical response was also disappointing, as Rotten Tomatoes calculates the film as earning only 46% positive reviews with more than 300 aggregated reactions.

“I went off and did a TV thing, just did Wednesday in Romania just to kind of re-cleanse, so to speak, or re-energize, whatever, sort of a thing,” Burton reflected. “So I had no burning desire to make the sequel or anything. I just wanted to make this movie. So I think I’ve re-calibrated the way I’m going to approach things in the future.”

Interestingly, Burton only has one previous directorial sequel to his name, which is 1992’s Batman Returns, a film that is viewed in high regard by many critics and fans. However, with movies like Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, and Corpse Bride all having lots of potential to earn more entries, it seems like Burton himself is uninterested in reviving those properties.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to land in theaters on September 6th.

Is there a Burton movie you would like to see get a sequel? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!