‘Beetlejuice 2’ Is Finished Filming, Tim Burton Announces; Sequel Only Had ‘A Day and Half’ Left to Shoot After Strikes Ended
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Tim Burton announced on Instagram that “Beetlejuice 2” has concluded filming. Production on the long-awaited sequel shut down over the summer with around two days left of filming due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Filming starting in May amid the WGA strike as the screenplay from “Wednesday” creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar had already been locked in. It wasn’t until the actors went on strike that filming paused indefinitely.
“Beetlejuice 2” is the sequel to Burton’s beloved 1988 cult classic. Michael Keaton is returning in the title role opposite returning cast members Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara. New faces to the franchise include “Wednesday” star Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci and Justin Theroux.
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Burton told The Independent in September 2022 that there were only two days of filming left to shoot the sequel when the SAG-AFTRA strike shut down production.
“I feel grateful we got what we got,” Burton said. “Literally, it was a day and a half. We know what we have to do. It is 99 percent done.”
“On this last one, Beetlejuice 2, I really enjoyed it,” the director also said, noting how rare it was to work on a big Hollywood tentpole and actually like it. “I tried to strip everything and go back to the basics of working with good people and actors and puppets. It was kind of like going back to why I liked making movies.”
Keaton previously told Empire magazine that Burton was prioritizing practical effects on the “Beetlejuice 2” set.
“Beetlejuice is the most fuckin’ fun you can have working,” Keaton said. “It’s so fun, it’s so great. And you know what it is? We’re doing it exactly like we did the first movie. There’s a woman in the great waiting room for the afterlife literally with a fishing line – I want people to know this because I love it – tugging on the tail of a cat to make it move.”
He continued, “It has to be done as close to the way we made it the first time. Making stuff up, making stuff happen, improvising and riffing, but literally handmade stuff like people creating things with their hands and building something. Fuckin’ great. It’s the most fun I’ve had working on a movie in, I can’t tell you how long.”
Warner Bros. is set to release “Beetlejuice 2” in theaters on Sept. 6, 2024.
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