Tim Burton’s long-awaited ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ was almost set to be a streaming release on Max, but that didn’t work for the director.
The studio had been developing the sequel for over a decade, even considering a project called ‘Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian’ at one point. Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group leaders Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy took over in 2022 and decided to move forward with a new idea.
At first, the studio considered making ‘Beetlejuice 2’ a streaming-only release. But according to Abdy, that plan was never going to work for Burton. “You’re talking about a visionary artist whose films demand to be seen on a big screen,” he told The New York Times.
One big issue during production was the film’s projected budget. It was around $147 million because of high actor salaries and producer fees. De Luca and Abdy worked with Burton to lower the budget to under $100 million to keep the movie in theaters.
In the end, they agreed on a budget of $99 million. Burton, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, and Catherine O’Hara accepted lower upfront pay in exchange for back-end deals. This means they’ll likely make more money now that the movie is doing so well at the box office.
‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ has been a hit since its release. It earned $264 million worldwide in just two weeks. It’s been the number one movie at the box office for two weekends straight and is expected to pass $200 million in the U.S. alone very soon.
