Tim Burton says a Beetlejuice sequel is essentially dead and buried

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

I think I might have really screwed up, you guys. Allow me to explain. Just the other evening, on my way home from seeing Failure live in Toronto, I brought up the subject of Tim Burton's long-gestating sequel to his 1988 classic BEETLEJUICE. While navigating the 403, I remarked to my wife that the prospect of a follow-up to one of Burton's best could be all for naught, and now we're hearing from Burton himself that there is nothing in the works for another haunting from the Ghost with the Most. I'm really sorry. I feel like I put the kibosh on the whole thing, even though the film coming together is entirely out of my hands. Have you ever felt as if you've cursed something by speaking ill of it? That's pretty much how I'm feeling right now. Please, will someone just throw me to the sandworms and put me out of my misery?

Here's the deal. While attending the premiere of DUMBO, USA Today asked Burton for an update on the reported sequel. Sadly, Burton simply replied, "Nothing, nothing." Then, when asked if he thought it could happen sometime down the road, Burton said, "I don't know. I doubt it."

Ugh! Again, it's okay if you hate me.

Following Burton's discouraging sentiments, USA Today reached out to Warner Bros. for an official comment, to which the studio's spokeswoman Candice McDonough noted, "the project isn’t in active development."

When last we heard of the project, the script for a BEETLEJUICE sequel was being re-written by Mike Vukadinovich, though even at that time the project seemed unlikely to come to fruition. It's just such a long shot, right? I'll be honest, if someone walked up to me and told me there was some serious movement on a BEETLEJUICE 2, I'd demand that this person provide some indisputable proof.

For now – and probably forever – fans of Burton's stripe-suited menace will have to settle for the new Beetlejuice musical, which is now in previews at New York’s Winter Garden Theater after a run in Washington, D.C.. It's not the end of the world, though it certainly sounds like the coffin is finally closing on what could have been. Sigh.

Let us know if you're gutted about there being no sequel to BEETLEJUICE in the comments section below.