Beetlejuice sequel is no longer in development

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The title character of director Tim Burton's 1988 classic BEETLEJUICE has been revived in a Broadway musical that has Alex Brightman playing the character on stage, but it's looking increasingly unlikely that we're ever going to see film star Michael Keaton back in the role on the big screen. Normally all hope for a sequel would have been set aside long before thirty-one years had passed, but there was reason to believe we might be getting a BEETLEJUICE 2, as in recent years Warner Bros. really seemed to be interested in finally getting the long-awaited follow-up on the track to production.

Keaton, his co-star Winona Ryder, and Burton all seemed to be on board to work on a sequel together, and Burton had even said he thought it was close to happening. Seth Grahame-Smith and Mike Vukadinovich were hired to write fresh drafts of the screenplay, tossing aside the "Gothic meets beach movie" concept of BEETLEJUICE GOES HAWAIIAN, a sequel idea that had been pursued in the '90s. 

But things have clearly fallen apart. While doing press for his new film DUMBO, Burton was asked what was going on with BEETLEJUICE 2 and his reply was a mumbled

Nothing, nothing." 

When asked if the sequel was ever going to happen, Burton said: 

I don't know. I doubt it."

Then indicated that he didn't want to discuss the subject. So USA Today reached out to Warner Bros. to check on the status of the sequel and studio spokeswoman Candice McDonough told them that 

the project isn’t in active development."

So if you were excited to see Keaton, Ryder, and Burton return to the world of BEETLEJUICE, it doesn't seem like there's going to be a sequel to be excited about after all.