Legendary Hollywood director Tim Burton is questioning if he’s been replaced after ‘nobody told him’ about plans for Beetlejuice 3.
The 66-year-old filmmaker, who directed the original 1988 comedy horror classic and its 2024 sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, has played down speculation that a third movie is definitely on the cards.
Nostalgia for the original combined with the return of Michael Keaton as the titular self-proclaimed ‘Ghost with the Most’ and a starry supporting cast helped propel the sequel to $451,100,000 at the box office.
Earlier this year, Warner Bros Pictures co-chairman/CEO Mike De Luca had insisted development on Beetlejuice 3 was ‘imminent’.
Upon hearing this, Burton told The Hollywood Reporter: ‘Really? Nobody told me. Maybe I’ve been replaced.’
Jenna Ortega, who appeared in the second film last year, quipped: ‘Maybe I’ve been, too. Maybe [her character] Astrid dies and goes to heaven instead [of the films’ Netherworld].
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‘They should just take Baby Beetlejuice on tour and send him to Hawaii.’
Burton pointed out that more than three decades passed between the first two films in the franchise, joking that ‘the odds are not good’ for a follow-up any time soon because he’d be 105 by then.
The filmmaker added: ‘I really, really enjoyed making this one, and [Warner Bros] didn’t even really want to do it.
‘We did it the same way I did the first one, with the actors doing improv. It was beautiful to see some of the old cast and have Jenna. But it’s like trying to re-create the Wednesday dance scene. I love the characters, but I don’t necessarily see it.’
Burton also seemed to suggest he’d be unwilling to allow another director to step in and do it instead, as he feels ‘very proprietary about everything I do, even if I don’t own the characters’.
He admitted too that ‘when they did the [Beetlejuice Broadway musical], I got p****d’.
Meanwhile, Ortega noted she would ‘never’ want to return to the Beetlejuice world without Burton steering the ship as it would be ‘really wrong to get behind that project’.
‘Without him involved, what is it? It is what it is because of Tim. There’s no other film you can compare Beetlejuice to. So why would you do that? That would be a tad disrespectful.’
The 22-year-old played the daughter of Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, who is initially unwilling to entertain her mother’s psychic abilities as someone still haunted by Beetlejuice.
After a family tragedy, three generations of the family return home to Winter River. But Astrid turns their lives upside down when she accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.
She has also collaborated with Burton on Netflix series Wednesday, where she plays the lead role, and which returns for season two next month. It’s a project Burton previously revealed ‘re-energised’ him after he became disillusioned with the movie industry.
Back in April, Warner Bros executive De Luca had claimed plans were moving along for sequels for both Minecraft and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
He told Deadline: ‘Imminently. The ink might not be dry on the deals yet, but imminently.’
De Luca insisted the studio was looking to capitalise on both film’s success.
He explained: ‘To have two franchises emerge from our leadership team with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Minecraft, I feel like we’re ahead of schedule.
‘Now we’re trying to step on the gas, to double, to quadruple that kind of success.’
Metro contacted has Warner Bros for comment.
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