Winona Ryder Gives Update on Her Involvement With BEETLEJUICE 2
I'm very curious to see what director Tim Burton is planning for Beetlejuice 2. It's a sequel that doesn't need to happen, but it's one that I would be interested in seeing, especially if it means we get to see where the characters are in their lives all these years after the events in the first film.
Both Burton and Michael Keaton have confirmed their involvement with the project, and at one point Burton confirmed that Winona Ryder would be in the film as well. Until recently, the actress has yet to confirm the news herself, but last night while she was a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers, she said:
“I think I can confirm it because Tim Burton did this interview. It was very hush-hush, top secret, ‘I don’t know what may happen, I don’t know,’ and then he was doing some press for ‘Big Eyes’ and he did an on-camera interview and he said, ‘Oh yeah, we’re doing it and Winona’s gonna be in it.’ So can I say…? I mean if he said it. But I really don’t know much more than anybody else.”
So it seems like the movie is still being developed, but very slowly. I know earlier in the year screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith said that the film could go into production at the end of this year. I guess we'll just have to see how that plays out. In a previous interview in which Ryder held back on confirming her involvement, she did say:
“It's not a remake. It's 27 years later. And I have to say, I love Lydia [Deetz, Ryder's teenage goth character] so much. She was such a huge part of me. I would be really interested in what she is doing 27 years later."
Then while promoting Big Eyes last year, Burton talked about the character, and finally getting around to making the long gestated sequel:
“It’s a character that I love and I miss and I miss actually working with Michael. There’s only one Betelgeuse. We’re working on a script and I think it’s probably closer than ever and I’d love to work with him again.
“I worked with [Ryder], I hadn’t seen her in awhile… and she was so great. I was so happy to see her. So those kinds of elements mean something to me. Michael, and her… and that character, I just miss it, there’s some freedom about that character that I love.”
It's good to see that everyone is excited about it. I really want to see what story they tell. Back in the 90s, they had a sequel that would have taken the title character to Hawaii, but I seriously doubt that's the direction they are going to take this current sequel.
You can read 13 fun facts about the first Beetlejuice movie here if you want.