It is a very good day to be Michael Keaton. Hype surrounding his return as Bruce Wayne/Batman reached its zenith earlier this afternoon when Warner Bros. debuted the new trailer for The Flash at CinemaCon. But the studio’s presentation yielded an encouraging update concerning the revival of another Keaton/Tim Burton collaboration as well. Via IGN, WB opened its panel at this year’s event with a sizzle reel showcasing the names of upcoming film projects. That list notably included Beetlejuice 2, which essentially confirms that a sequel to Burton’s horror-comedy classic is finally happening.
A Beetlejuice sequel has been in development hell since the original film bowed in 1988. Keaton headlined the movie as its title character, an undead bio-exorcist hired by a recently-deceased couple to scare away the new residents of their former home. In its earliest incarnations, the follow-up was titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, which would have moved the setting to The Aloha State. WB brought multiple writers onboard to pen the script, including Jonathan Gems (Mars Attacks!), Daniel Waters (Heathers), and Pamela Norris (Saturday Night Live). However, this version of the project seemed to fall apart by the late ‘90s.
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Years later, in 2011, Seth Grahame-Smith was hired to write his own script for another Beetlejuice installment. Mike Vukadinovich eventually signed on to rewrite his draft in 2017. Two years later, the film was reported to have been shelved. But the sequel appeared to gain new momentum last month when Jenna Ortega was said to be in talks to star as the daughter Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz from the original film.
As far as we know, Burton and Keaton have yet to finalize their deals to return as director and star, respectively. It’s also unclear who wrote the latest draft of the script or if there’s even a script at all. Regardless, this is our best indication yet that WB is serious about resurrecting the Beetlejuice franchise on the big screen. And assuming the rumors are true, production could start as early as this summer.
Are you happy to hear that Beetlejuice 2 is officially back on? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Beetlejuice: Handbook for the Recently Deceased
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