Brad Pitt's production company Plan B to bring Beetlejuice sequel back to life
After over two decades of planning Beetlejuice 2, it seems to finally be happening
Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Now that we’ve said his name thrice, does that mean we’ll finally get that sequel? It sure looks like it. Deadline reports Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B is developing Beetlejuice 2.
As for the current status of the sequel, Deadline says it’s still in early development, and the script hasn’t even been written yet.
While Deadline says no other attachments have been made yet, Empire reports that Michael Keaton, who played the crude ghoul, will wear the striped suit again, and that Winona Ryder is also returning as “strange and unusual” Lydia Deetz. However these casting details are unconfirmed by anyone involved in the production.
This isn’t the first time there’s been an attempt to make a Beetlejuice sequel. Jonathan Gems, who penned the screenplay for Tim Burton’s other cult classic Mars Attacks!, wrote the first shelved sequel titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian.
According to Wicked Horror, Burton wanted to “combine the setting of a classic, cheesy ‘60s beach movie with the gothic German Expressionist flair he’s known for.” The movie would’ve had the Deets move to Hawaii, “where the patriarch planned to open a resort. Obviously, the chaotic Betelgeuse would follow closely behind, accidentally awakening an angry native spirit and, most importantly, the ghost with the most would also win the big third-act surf contest.”
Warner Bros. reportedly favored having Burton make a Batman sequel instead of a Beetlejuice one, so plans were halted.
Over a decade later, Seth Grahame-Smith wrote another sequel in 2011. In a since-archived EW article from 2015, it’s said that Grahame-Smith had “completed a few drafts of the script and received interest from all the principle players.” Ryder and Keaton were already on board, and Burton was happy with the script, too, according to Grahame-Smith.
“I’ve emailed with Michael Keaton. I know he’s excited about the idea. I know Tim is excited about the idea. Where it stands now is Tim’s got to get ready to make [Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children], and then hopefully we are set, deals are done, and we’re waiting in the wings ready to go right after Peregrine’s wraps up. The ideal timeline is we’re really getting into it toward the end of this year,” he said.
It has yet to be announced if Grahame-Smith will also be attached to this sequel as a screenwriter, or if that version of the sequel will remain shelved.