Beetlejuice 2 Was Painfully Close To Being Finished Before The Hollywood Strikes

Remember how saying Betelgeuse's name (yes, we're pulling out the proper spelling and everything) in "Beetlejuice" three times allows you to summon Michel Keaton's titular freelance bio-exorcist? It turns out a similar rule applies to the sequel to director Tim Burton's 1988 supernatural comedy classic. After plans for a follow-up titled "Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian" were abandoned in the early 1990s (for better or for worse, that film would've certainly been weird and horny, even by '90s-era Burton's standards), a second go was made at reviving the project with writer Seth Grahame-Smith. That iteration also fell apart, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on how you feel about Grahame-Smith and Burton's big screen re-imagining of the bizarre cult soap opera "Dark Shadows."

Warner Bros. finally succeeded in its third attempt at getting "Beetlejuice 2" off the ground, pairing Burton, Keaton, and the other returning "Beetlejuice" cast members with Burton's "Wednesday" star Jenna Ortega and creators/writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The film was making steady progress, too, at least until the dual WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes — something that WB and the rest of the AMPTP have nobody to blame for but themselves after failing to negotiate a fair deal with the actors' and writers' guilds in the first place — went into effect. In an interview with The Independent (via Variety), Burton revealed he was painfully close to finishing production before that happened:

"I feel grateful we got what we got. Literally, it was a day and a half. We know what we have to do. It is 99 percent done."

There's no doubt, then, that third time will eventually be the charm for "Beetlejuice 2." But will the belated sequel actually be worth watching when it finally arrives? The answer isn't necessarily no.

Burton is a long way removed from his glory days as that wiry-haired weirdo who snuck an F-bomb into a PG movie or had Michelle Pfeiffer put a live bird in her mouth. Every so often, though, you can still catch a glimpse of that mischievously macabre artist who gave Roland Emmerich the middle finger by releasing "Mars Attacks!" the same year as "Independence Day" or helmed the spooky season staple that is his sumptuous, blood-splattered Hammer Horror love letter "Sleepy Hollow." Such was the case with Burton's last film, the live-action "Dumbo," which wound up being autobiographical in ways he never expected and even led the filmmaker to swear off working with Disney ever again, calling the studio a "horrible big circus."

Despite having grown disillusioned with the tentpole world, Burton saw "Beetlejuice 2" as a chance to get back to making films the way he prefers to. He told The Independent:

"That's why it is hard for me to watch the movies afterwards, because I still feel the emotional whatever of it. I don't get a release from that. But I do enjoy all the people I've worked with. On this last one, 'Beetlejuice 2,' I really enjoyed it. I tried to strip everything and go back to the basics of working with good people and actors and puppets. It was kind of like going back to why I liked making movies."

Burton's comments echo what Keaton previously said about "Beetlejuice 2" embracing the same handmade aesthetic and improv-heavy approach as the original film. His days as a genuine innovator might be behind him, but could "Beetlejuice 2" kick off a strong third act for Burton? I'd sure love it if it did!

"Beetlejuice 2" is currently scheduled to hit theaters on September 6, 2024.