Director Tim Burton is in talks to direct Beetlejuice 2, sequel to the quirky ghost cult film released in 1988. And though not much information has been released regarding script specifics, Michael Keaton will reportedly once again play the lead role of Beetlejuice, the zany rabble-rousing ghost who, in the original film, is hired by a naïve dead couple (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) to scare away new, living homeowners.
The Geffen Company, producers of the first Beetlejuice, will create the second film, which according to The Wrap, has been in pre-development under Warner Bros. for some time now. David Katzenberg (Gremlins, It) and Seth Grahame-Smith, writer of Burton’s Dark Shadows, will write the script.
Though some believe that the film will most likely not be Burton’s next project to tackle, both the director and Keaton appear to have openings in their schedules, with the former recently finishing Weinstein Co.’s Big Eyes, and the latter completing the new Robocop. Burton’s Pinocchio is currently in the late preproduction stage and set to begin principal photography in 2014, but Beetlejuice 2 could certainly be next up to bat.
As for Keaton, though he is undoubtedly experiencing somewhat of an acting renaissance at the moment with his roles in Robocop and Need for Speed, his voiceover as Ken in a potential Toy Story 4 seems to be his only major upcoming commitment aside from Beetlejuice 2.
In addition to the availability of the two primary players of the Beetlejuice franchise, the heavily optimistic revenue speculation, based in part on the first film’s box office success (the film grossed $73 million during its initial outing – a significant figure in 1988), does well to serve as further motivation for Burton, Keaton, and everyone else involved in the sequel to this timeless cult film.
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