Tim Burton In Talks To Direct Possible 'Beetlejuice' Sequel

by uInterviewOctober 23, 2013, 12:00 amNews >

Tim Burton is in talks to reclaim his seat in the director’s chair for a possible Beetlejuice sequel at Warner Bros.

The studio has a script for a Beetlejuice sequel, tentatively named Beetlejuice 2, from screenwriters Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg, who also penned the script for Burton’s recent adaptation of Dark Shadows. Burton, who directed the 1988 classic staring Michael Keaton as the titular ghost, and co-staring Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis and Winona Ryder.

After working with Grahame-Smith on Dark Shadows and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Burton said that he would be happy to read any possible script ideas for a Beetlejuice sequel.

“I love that character, and Michael [Keaton] is so great in it… I always think about how great and fun that character was, so I just said to Seth [Grahame-Smith], ‘If you have some ideas about it, go for it, and then I’ll look at it freshly.’ In the past, I tried some things, but that was way back when. He seemed really excited about it,” Burton told MTV News in January of 2012.

Burton, who had already signed on to produce the film, has received an official offer to direct the sequel, according to The Hollywood Reporter, but that doesn’t mean the sequel is ready to go into production. Writers Grahame-Smith and Katzenberg are adamant that their sequel be a true sequel about Beetlejuice with Michael Keaton as the star, not a reboot.

“The star of the movie has to be Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, and it’s a true continuation 26 years later… Not just throwing him in as a cameo going, ‘Hey, it’s me. I endorse this movie,’” Grahame-Smith previously told EW.

Keaton’s involvement in the film has not yet been confirmed. In fact, reports suggest that Keaton has not even seen the script.