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While Hollywood loves to sequalize and universe-ize everything these days, one of the more curious sequel prospects to arise over the past few years has been a Beetlejuice sequel. Director Tim Burton’s phenomenal 1988 original isn’t a film that one would necessarily think would spawn a follow-up over two decades later, but word surfaced a few years ago that following their collaboration on Dark Shadows, Burton had agreed to let screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith pen a script for a follow-up simply to see what became of it. In the years since, fan fervor for Beetlejuice 2 has only grown louder, and rumors have taken on new lives of their own all the while Burton has yet to ever officially commit to making the film a reality.

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So when Collider’s own Steve Weintraub recently spoke with Burton at a press day for the filmmaker’s upcoming film Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, the director set the record straight on the status of Beetlejuice 2 while throwing some shade at the online rumor mill in the process:

“This is the thing, it’s something that I’m interested in, but there’s so many stories [online], dumping Michael Keaton for Johnny Depp and this or that, and I’ve talked to these people and they didn’t wanna hear this so they just made up a story. But the fact of it is I have talked to Michael and I have talked to Winona, I’ve talked to a few people. It’s something that I really would like to do in the right circumstances, but it’s one of those films where it has to be right. It’s not a kind of a movie that cries out [for a sequel], it’s not the Beetlejuice trilogy. So it’s something that if the elements are right—because I do love the character and Michael’s amazing as that character, so yeah we’ll see. But there’s nothing concrete yet.”

So there we have it. The desire to make Beetlejuice 2 is there, but the movie is far from a reality or a sure thing just yet. In the meantime, Burton is one of the most highly sought-after directors in the business, and has agreed to helm a live-action Dumbo for Disney, so it could be a few years before this thing becomes a reality even if the conditions are to Burton’s liking.

So hold your horses, folks. Beetlejuice 2 might happen sometime in the future, but it also might not. https://www.youtube.com/embed/vgPB-BXxdpg

beetlejuice
Image via Warner Bros.
beetlejuice-michael-keaton
Image via Warner Bros.
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Image via Warner Bros.
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Image via Warner Bros.