I'm feeling a little, ooh, anxious if you know what I mean. It's been about six hundred years since we all heard rumors of there being a sequel to Tim Burton's classic 1988 horror comedy BEETLEJUICE starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin. Now, Deadline is reporting that Mike Vukadinovich (REMEMORY) will rewrite BEETLEJUICE 2 at Warner Brothers.
For the moment, no deal has been inked for Burton and Keaton to board the project, though there are rumblings of the two men – who are currently working on Burton's live-action adaptation of DUMBO for Disney – have been excited by the thought of collaborating, once again, to have a whole new generation embrace the ghost with the most. Adding to the list of individuals involved with the proposed sequel are Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg of KatzSmith Productions would produce the new film.
The original BEETLEJUICE, has become a tried-and-true cult classic since the days of its 1988 release. I can't tell you how many times I'd dressed as the film's central character for Halloween, with my Mom being nonplussed about her 9-year-old son grabbing his junk and shouting "Nice fuckin' model!" at the top of his lungs at every conceivable opportunity. While the thought of there being a BEETLEJUICE sequel feels like a cinematic pipe dream, stranger things have happened in regard to nostalgic properties being given a spit shine for today's '80s obsessed market.
With any luck, Vukadinovich can scare up a script that will have Burton and key members of the original's star-studded cast dying to shout "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice," once more.
