Michael Keaton’s success in offbeat dramedy BIRDMAN has led to fresh speculation about the return of another career-defining character, BEETLEJUICE. A new interview with that movie’s director shows the enthusiasm has far from bitten the dust… by the way he was a little-known ex-Disney animator called Tim Burton:
It’s a character that I love and I miss and I miss actually working with Michael. There’s only one Betelgeuse. We’re working on a script and I think it’s probably closer than ever and I’d love to work with him again.
Released in 1988, BEETLEJUICE concerned recently-deceased couple the Maitlands who – unable to scare away the horrifically pretentious couple who have taken over their house – enlist the help of the psychopathic “bio-exorcist” of the title. Burton originally wanted Sammy Davis Jr for the role, but Keaton’s involvement took the project to a whole new level, with star and director rewriting the script and giving it a comedic edge that raked in big bucks for Warner Bros. A sequel has been mooted ever since, though the film did manage to give rise to a surprisingly decent cartoon series.
While this is far from the green light fans are clamouring for, Keaton’s much-publicized return to “serious” acting means BEETLEJUICE 2 is bound to be on studio execs’ minds. And if he and Burton decide to enter into talks we could be seeing a follow-up claw its way out of the catacombs sooner rather than later. It must be noted that we’ve been tracking this since 2012 with stories in that year, plus confirmations in 2013 and again in February of this year, see!
Source: ComingSoon
