The rumors of a ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel have been floating around as far back as the early 90s, with many convinced that the project will never see the light of day.
Adding to the myth of the fabled sequel Jeff Sneider, a reporter for The Ankler, has gone on record stating that Brad Pitt‘s company Plan B has officially come aboard to produce the long-awaited sequel.
In his article, he adds that filming on “Beetlejuice 2’ could begin as early as this summer with original stars Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder reprising their roles. He adds that Tim Burton is not officially onboard at this time, but confirms that Alec Baldwin will not be returning.
Before you get too excited though, Sneider notes that the sequel “hasn’t gone before WB’s greenlight committee just yet.”
A sequel was initially planned following the success of the original film, a sequel that would have seen the Deetz family move to Hawaii to develop a vacation resort, where they would discover that the spot they initially planned to build the resort was actually an ancient burial ground. Reportedly Beetlejuice would make his way to Hawaii and inadvertently awaken the ancient spirits.
This initial idea, originally titled ‘Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian’ was scrapped, as Warner Bros. instead shifted their attention to developing a follow-up to ‘Batman’.
The idea of a sequel would pass through many hands over the years, but nothing would ever come to fruition.
Finally, in 2011 the sequel showed the first signs of life when it was announced that Seth Grahame-Smith had signed a deal with Warner Bros. that would see the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter author, develop an original script. It was also Grahame-Smith, who first reported that Michael Keaton was interested in reprising the iconic role.
News on the sequel would once again die down until in 2015 the story would once again make the headlines when Winona Ryder confirmed that the project was happening, with Tim Burton set to direct.
Just one year later the project seemed to hit its first snag when director Tim Burton revealed in an interview with Collider that there were issues with Grahame-Smith’s proposed script.
In 2017, Deadline reported that Warner Bros. had hired Mike Vukadinovich to take over writing duties from Grahame-Smith.
In 2019, the sequel would suffer its biggest setback, when during an interview with USA Today, when after being asked if he thought the ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel was happening, Burton reported by stating “I don’t know. I doubt it,” before waving off further questions.
Could this be just another note in the history of the long-awaited sequel or is this finally the first step in seeing the “ghost with the most” return to the big screen?
