Beetlejuice Beetlejuicewas originally going to be a streaming exclusive with a larger budget, until director Tim Burton stepped in.Serving as a follow-up to his 1988 cult classic, the sequel follows three generations of the Deetz family as they return to Winter River and accidentally open a portal to the Afterlife.Beetlejuice Beetlejuicefeatures the return of several actorsfrom the original film, including Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse, Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, and Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz, and has been a big hit in theaters since its release earlier this month.
A new report fromThe New York Timesnow reveals thatBeetlejuice Beetlejuicewas originally positioned as a Max streaming exclusive. As Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Pamela Abdy recalls,Burton was not onboard with his sequel not getting a theatrical release:
“That was never going to work for Tim. You’re talking about a visionary artist whose films demand to be seen on a big screen.”
The projected budget for the film, however, was estimated to be $147 million, due in large part to producer fees and star salaries. Because of Burton’s somewhat spotty track record at the box office over the last 15 years, this wasn’t going to fly. Abdy and Michael De Luca, Chairperson of Warner Bros. Entertainment, agreed to giveBeetlejuice Beetlejuicea theatrical release,but only if the budget could come down to under $100 million. Burton and his agent, Mike Simpson, then set about cutting costs wherever they could, starting with salaries.
“Two months went by where every day the movie almost died,” recalls Simpson. But, in the end,Burton himself took a pay cut, and Simpson would eventually get stars Keaton, O’Hara, Ryder, and newcomer Jenna Ortega (who plays Lydia’s daughter, Astrid Deetz) to also take reduced salariesin exchange for larger pieces of the film’s back end.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Box Office Hits Major Milestone, Closes In On Alien: Romulus As It Nears 2024 Top 10
During its second global box office weekend, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice passes a major milestone, nearing Alien: Romulus' total and the 2024 Top 10.
While this maneuvering and negotiating was taking place, Abdy and De Luca were pumping hundreds of thousands intoBeetlejuice Beetlejuicepre-production, which Simpson said “showed real guts, especially for two executives who were fairly new to their jobs.“In the end, these salary cuts combined with tax incentives got the sequel’s budget down to $99 million.
What A Theatrical Release Means For Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Tim Burton Made The Right Choice To Push For Theatrical
Considering how the Burton sequel has been performing in theaters, he evidently made the right choice.Beetlejuice Beetlejuicereviewshave been generally positive from critics, and the film currently enjoys a respectable 77% onRotten Tomatoes. The audience score comes in higher at 82%, and the movie has a B+ onCinemaScore. On Metacritic, the sequel has scored a less impressive 62/100 with critics and 6.5/10 with audiences, though this isn’t surprising asMetacriticscores almost always come in a little lower compared to Rotten Tomatoes.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s box officefigures have been even more impressive.The film pulled in $111 million domestically in its opening weekend, with a domestic total that now stands at $188 million. Internationally, the film has thus far grossed $76 million, bringing its worldwide total to $264 million. Only two weekends in, then,Beetlejuice Beetlejuicehas almost certainly broken even, and the stars who took pay cuts in favor of more of the back end are likely in for some big paydays.
Other actors who appear in theBeetlejuice Beetlejuicecast include: Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, Arthur Conti, and Burn Gorman.
How Beetlejuice 2 Compares To The Original Critically & Commercially
Burton’s 1988 Film Remains A Cult Classic
Other than perhapsPee-wee’s Big Adventure(1985),Beetlejuicearguably marks the start of Burton’s heyday as a filmmaker, coming just beforeBatman(1989), for which he reunited with Keaton,Edward Scissorhands(1990),Batman Returns(1992), andEd Wood(1994). A step down fromBeetlejuice Beetlejuice’s budget, the original was made for only $15 million, and it became a success promptly after release.
Beetlejuice Ending Explained: How It Sets Up Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice 2 Return
Beetlejuice’s ending leaves a lot of details unclear, but the Tim Burton horror comedy does reveal what happens to Beetlejuice, Lydia, and Barbara.
The film ultimately grossed just under $75 million domestically and only about $172,000 internationally. Interestingly, the performance of the sequel, while an improvement overseas, does suggest that the franchise doesn’t have the same appeal internationally as in North America.
Accounting for inflation,Beetlejuicewould cost roughly $40 million to make today, with its box office haul coming in at just under $200 million.
82%
71/100
7.8/10
77%
62/100
6.5/10
Critically, as seen in the chart above, the firstBeetlejuiceedges out the sequel in most respects. On Rotten Tomatoes, the 1988 original movie features an 83% score from critics, a clear win, but the audience scores are, as of writing, an exact match. Considering audience scores are still being added for the sequel, however, it’s still entirely possible this result will change. On Metacritic,Beetlejuicescored 71/100 with critics and 7.8/10 with users, both markedly better scores than the sequel.
Our Take On Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s Theatrical Release
Why Warner Bros.' Hesitation Is Understandable
Considering Burton’s last major box office hit came in 2010 withAlice in Wonderlandand the firstBeetlejuicefilm is 36 years old,it’s not surprising that WB were unwilling to commit to making a sequel at a $147 million budget level.
$99 million
$264,306,079
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
Clearly, though, love for Burton’s 1988 original remains, especially in North America, and the theatrical release was ultimately the right choice. This is especially true because an extra $48 million for the film’s budget seemingly wouldn’t have gone toward a particularly audacious sequence or more effects, and would have mostly covered salaries. IfBeetlejuice Beetlejuicehad forgone a theatrical release and debuted on Max instead with a higher budget level, it likely would have come and gone with little fanfare.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Cast
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the sequel to the original Tim Burton classic that starred Michael Keaton and Wynona Rider in a horror-comedy that involved ghosts trying to scare off new homebuyers from taking their house. The sequel brings back Michael Keaton as the hilarious and sleazy ghost with selfish intentions, now joined by Jenna Ortega in a new role.
