Beetlejuice fits into a particular subset of movies that doesn’t often get recognised: the procedural supernatural. The characterization of the Netherworld is a highlight of this film. However, the underlying optimism which distinguishes this from Burton’s more pessimistic films, such as Edward Scissorhands (1990), lies in the ending: the new family is incorporated into the old house, with the strangeness of the Netherworld peacefully coexisting with the protagonists. It tracks then that Burton would see the tendencies of this time as a threat to his world, built on authenticity and creative integrity. ![]() This aspect has been satirized in several film, including American Psycho (2000). The 80s were an intensely individualistic time, one that promoted extroversion and financial superiority. They are conditioned to do their own good, trampling anyone else in the process. However, the family’s need for status and worship is a compulsion. It could have been so easy for director Tim Burton to give into the 80s trend of the stereotypically unredeemable villains who the audience love to hate, such as the now redeemed Judge Doom from Who Framed Rodger Rabbit (1988). When an almost offensively 80s family of yuppies come in to wreck a simple family home, they threaten to engulf the entire town into their pretentious lifestyle. After numerous failed attempts, they decide to hire Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), a bio-exorcist from the Netherworld. The plot follows Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis), a couple who, after dying a tragic death, attempt to scare away the new family that have come to inhabit their home. Beetlejuice perfectly captures the anxieties that haunted 80s creatives, and it remains timeless no thanks to its purposefully cheap look and endlessly imaginative characters. Yet these are key themes that make this not only an excellent horror comedy, but also a wonderfully strange piece of social commentary. ![]() These may not be the first words that come to mind when describing 1988’s Beetlejuice. Starring: Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder also confirmed that the forthcoming sequel's script was being penned by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the creative minds behind Netflix's Wednesday which Burton also worked on.Īt the time of writing, little is known about what the finalised plot of Beetlejuice 2 will be and whether or not it will incorporate any elements of previous incarnations.Screenwriters: Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson, Warren Skaaren Not long after, Burton teased his return with the project scheduled to start filming in summer 2023.Īlongside the release date announcement in May, Warner Bros. This changed in early 2022 when Brad Pitt’s company Plan B Entertainment announced that Beetlejuice 2 was back from the dead. However, despite promising statements from Grahame-Smith, Ryder and Burton in the years following, the project remained unmade and was ultimately shelved for good in 2019. And I have to say, I love Lydia Deetz so much." Ryder threw further fire on the sequel speculation in 2013, telling The Daily Beast that: "I'm kind of sworn to secrecy but it sounds like it might be happening. This new idea was reportedly set in real-time, 26 or 27 years after the events of 1988’s original. been wanting to do it for 20 years and he'll talk to anybody about it who will listen,” he told Shock Till You Drop in a since-archived interview. "We talked for a couple of hours and talked about big-picture stuff. Michael Keaton in Tim Burton's 1988 film Beetlejuice. Having previously worked with Burton on his 2012 Dark Shadows adaptation, Grahame-Smith was reportedly determined to write a film that wasn’t just a cash-in exercise and even met with Keaton to discuss returning to the role. Over the years, a number of writers were hired to retool the same concept, including Clerks director Kevin Smith before Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter scribe Seth Grahame-Smith was hired to dream up an entirely new vision for Beetlejuice 2. That’s not to say the director gave up on the concept though. ![]() Read more: The best horror movies of 2022 Thankfully, this exotic sequel never panned out, with Burton instead shifting his focus onto 1992’s Batman Returns instead. Plot-wise, this undeveloped follow-up was said to follow Lydia in Hawaii where her parents are hoping to open a resort before Beetlejuice returns, foils their plans and wins a surfing contest using supernatural magic. Gems later told horror movie mag Fangoria that "Tim thought it would be funny to match the surfing backdrop of a beach movie with some sort of German Expressionism, because they're totally wrong together.”
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