It's been rumoured, whispered about, and hoped for for a long time. When interviewing Michael Keaton (who portrayed the “ghost with the most” in the film) or Tim Burton himself, “Beetlejuice 2” — a sequel to the 1988 Tim Burton horror comedy blockbuster — always seems to be on the tip of everyone's tongue. According to USA Today, Winona Ryder even seemed to confirm that the film may begin production as soon as 2015.
She added at the time, “I think I can confirm that.” In 2017, Deadline revealed that screenwriter Mike Vukadinovich has been engaged to create the script. However, all reports about the matter quickly died off. Burton's most recent response to an inquiry about the project's viability came in 2019, at the “Dumbo” press junket.
When asked about the sequel's progress, he informed a reporter from USA Today, “Nothing, nothing.” When asked if he thought the sequel will happen at all, he answered, “I'm not sure. I seriously doubt it.”
What is Beetlejuice All About?
Barbara and Adam Maitland decide to spend their vacation refurbishing their gorgeous rural home in Connecticut. Barbara swerves to avoid a dog while driving home from a trip to town, and the automobile plunges into a river. She and Adam note that they no longer have reflections after they return home, and they uncover a Handbook for the Recently Deceased. They begin to believe that they did not survive the automobile accident, and Adam tries to leave the house only to find himself in a bizarre, otherworldly terrain coated in sand and inhabited by huge sandworms.
The mansion has been sold, and the new owners, the Deetz family from New York City, have arrived. Charles Deetz is a former real estate developer, his second wife Delia is a self-described sculptor, and his goth daughter Lydia is an aspiring photographer from his first marriage. The Deetzes remodel the house into insipid pastel-toned modern art with the help of interior designer Otho.
The Maitlands walk to an otherworldly waiting room populated by other distraught souls, where they learn that the afterlife is organised according to a complex system including vouchers and caseworkers, after consulting the Handbook. Juno, the Maitlands' personal caseworker, reminds them that they must stay in the house for the next 125 years or face terrible consequences. It is up to them to scare the Deetzes out of the house if they want them out. Despite their ability to shape-shift into monsters, Barbara and Adam's attempts to scare the family are useless.
Despite the fact that Charles and Delia are oblivious to Adam and Barbara, Lydia notices them and befriends them. The Maitlands, against Juno's advise, hire the rogue Betelgeuse, Juno's former assistant and now freelance “bio-exorcist” ghost, to scare the Deetzes away. They don't realise that “Betelgeuse” is pronounced “Beetlejuice” at first, which is why they have trouble pronouncing his name and summoning him.
When Can You Expect Beetlejuice 2?
Naturally, estimating the length of time it will take to release a film that does not appear to be in the works is impossible. If the film were to be greenlit this summer, it wouldn't be released until 2023 or 2024 at the earliest, due to the length of time required for preproduction, postproduction, scriptwriting, and design.
Burton began development on the film while waiting for Warner Brothers to greenlight “Batman,” according to Mark Salisbury's book “Burton on Burton” (1989). They weren't sure they wanted to risk money on a big-budget Batman spectacular at the moment, despite his success with “Pee Wee's Big Adventure” (1985) (which made $40.9 million against a $7 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo).
It took almost four years to bring “Beetlejuice” to reality, from the beginning of Burton's hunt for a good storey through the final test screenings. After entering active development, the sequel is likely to take at least as long.
Wrapping Up
As Per International Business Times, the whole ensemble of the first film was eager to collaborate on a sequel as long as Burton was rehired as director. Lydia Deetz was played by Ryder; the Maitlands were played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis; Beetlejuice was played by Keaton; and Lydia's mother, Delia, was played by Catherine O'Hara.
