Beetlejuice Beetlejuice producer says “the door is open” for Beetlejuice 3.
Michael Keaton’s Beetlegeuse can only be brought back by saying his name three times, but what about Tim Burton? Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — the filmmaker’s long-awaited sequel which nearly went straight to streaming before topping the box office three weeks in a row — ends with a final scene suggesting that Beetlegeuse’s would-be ghoulfriend Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) and daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) haven’t seen the last of the Ghost with the Most.
“I think with Tim’s love for the title and the characters, the door is open, but we’ll see what happens next,” Beetlejuice 2 producer Tommy Harper, who also executive produced the Burton-directed Wednesday series, told Deadline about a third movie.
Burton’s 36-years-later followup to his 1988 classic has conjured up $330 million at the global box office so far, more than doubling its $99 million budget. That’s Burton’s biggest hit since Disney’s live-action Dumbo in 2019 ($353 million), surpassing his 2012 vampire comedy Dark Shadows ($245 million), the stop-motion animated Frankenweenie ($81 million), 2014’s Big Eyes ($30 million), and 2016’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children ($296 million).
While the door may be opened to summoning a sequel titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Burton seemed to squash a Beetlejuice 3 after the film made its world premiere out of competition during the 81st Venice Film Festival in August.
“Let’s do the math. It took 35 years to do this one,” the director, 66, said during a press conference. “For another, I’d be over 100 [years old]. It could be possible thanks to medical science. But I don’t think so.” Still, Burton added he was “energized” by the Addams Family spinoff Wednesday he directed and produced for Netflix, spurring his first film since 2019. The Beetlejuice sequel was “a very personal project” and not a cash grab made “for loads of money.”
“Over the past few years, I got disillusioned with the movie business. So I knew if I was going to do something I wanted to do it from my heart,” Burton said. “I lost myself a bit, so this movie was re-energizing. Getting back to the things I love and working with the people I love. With this one, it didn’t matter how it turned out. I just enjoyed making it with these people.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe, and Jenna Ortega — is now playing only in theaters.
