Director Tim Burton was less than two days from being able to wrap production on his latest movie, Beetlejuice 2 – which, of course, happens to be the long-awaited (it’s been thirty-five years!) sequels to his classic Beetlejuice (watch it HERE), when the Screen Actors Guild strike hit in July. Production had to be paused for months. But the SAG strike came to an end earlier this month, and now WBZ News reports that Burton and his cast and crew were able to return to the town of Melrose, Massachusetts and cover the place in Halloween decorations for a couple days of filming. Beetlejuice 2 has since wrapped, finally.
The SAG strike delay was very minor compared to what this project has been through over the years. Beetlejuice 2 was in development hell for decades. In 1990, Jonathan Gems was hired to write a sequel that was going to be titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. Burton considered having Daniel Waters rewrite that script, Pamela Norris did rewrite it, and Warner Bros. offered Kevin Smith the chance to do another rewrite. He turned it down. Seth Grahame-Smith was hired to write and produce a new version of a sequel in 2011. Mike Vukadinovich was brought on to rewrite his script in 2017.
Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, co-creators and co-showrunners of Wednesday, have written the screenplay for Beetlejuice 2 that is actually being filmed. Plot details are being kept under wraps. Brad Pitt’s Plan B is producing the sequel, which filmed in London before moving to Vermont and Massachusetts.
Winona Ryder reprises the role of Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice 2 and is joined in the cast by Jenna Ortega as Lydia’s daughter; Catherine O’Hara, back as Lydia’s stepmother Delia; Monica Bellucci as Beetlejuice’s wife, Willem Dafoe as a law enforcement officer in the afterlife, and Justin Theroux in an unspecified role. Of course, Michael Keaton is reprising the role of Beetlejuice.
Written by Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren from a story McDowell crafted with Larry Wilson, the original Beetlejuice has the following synopsis: What’s a yuppie ghost couple to do when their quaint New England home is overrun by trendy New Yorkers? They hire a freelance ‘bio-exorcist’ to spook the intruders. And everyone gets more than he, she or it bargained for! Director Tim Burton teams with Michael Keaton. The result? ‘Keaton’s Beetlejuice is one of the biggest, baddest wolves a ghost movie has ever unleashed, a polter-gas’ (The Village Voice). He’s a juggernaut of jokes, jolts and jive who hurls one-liners, spins into grotesque forms, gobbles insects and can’t leave ladies (living or dead) alone. So exorcise your right to fun. Say the ‘B’ word three times and have a wonderful Day-O!
Beetlejuice 2 is heading toward a September 6, 2024 theatrical release. Are you glad to hear it has finally wrapped filming? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.