Of the four new movies opening in theatres weekend, three are remakes of 1980s films. This raises the inevitable question: How long will it be until Hollywood completely runs out of 1980s titles to give the reboot/remake/sequel treatment? Well, according to Michael Keaton, it could be a bit sooner than anyone expected. The actor says that he’s been in contact with Tim Burton, and a sequel to Beetlejuice—one of the few 1980s properties that seemed to have escaped the reboot craze—could be on the way.
“I’ve emailed Tim a couple of times, talked to the writer a couple of times, but all really, really preliminary stuff until relatively recently,”; Keaton told MTV. “I always said that [Beetlejuice] is the one thing I’d like to do again, if I ever did anything again. But it kind of required Tim to be involved some way or another. Now it looks like he is involved. And without giving too much away, we’ve talked to each other, and emailed each other, and if he’s in, it’s going to be hard not to be in.”;
After Beetlejuice proved to be a hit, a screenplay for a sequel called Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian was commissioned. It is unclear at this point whether or not the project that Burton and Keaton are eyeing is related to that script.
Back in November, Keaton’s Beetlejuice co-star Winona Ryder also hinted that a sequel could be in the works. “I’m kind of sworn to secrecy, but it sounds like it might be happening,”; she told The Daily Beast, adding that the film would be a straight ahead sequel and not be a reboot or remake. “It’s 27 years later. And I have to say, I love Lydia so much. She was such a huge part of me. I would be really interested in what she is doing 27 years later.”;
Beetlejuice grossed $73.7 million during its initial theatrical run in 1988 and nabbed the Oscar for best makeup. Keaton and Burton collaborated again on Batman and Batman Returns. If Beetlejuice 2 goes forward, it will be the fourth occasion that the two have collaborated.