Beetlejuice Beetlejuice season is finally finally upon us! We’ve gotten little snippets and teasers, but promotion is now officially in full swing, with the film opening the Venice Film Festival later this month before its September 6 release date. At long last, the juice is (almost) loose. Stars from the original 1988 cult classic have waxed nostalgic on working with director Tim Burton, and spoken glowingly on how seamlessly newcomer Jenna Ortega fit in with the gang. Now the man himself, Michael Keaton, has a profile in GQ where he talks sensibly about his career, and sheds some light on the road towards Beetlejuice 2. Some highlights:
On why it didn’t feel right to call Birdman his ‘comeback’: He had been working steadily, all these years, putting himself out there, and collecting paychecks. “I thought I could make that story up, but I knew I’m going to be bullsh-tting every time I talk about it,” he adds. “By the way, I know business. I like business. Doesn’t bother me. You go, ‘This is a business, man.’” And if Keaton has learned anything, it’s to be fine with the business, with the inevitable ups and downs. “I never panic,” he says. “If you get desperate, you’re f–ked. Don’t ever get desperate. You can get insecure and nervous and go, ‘Wow, boy, I’m not doing so great right now.’ But when you get desperate, you’re dead.”
What could have been: The long, gnarly road back to Beetlejuice began shortly after the success of the first one. There were, as there tend to be, talks. Talks that didn’t go anywhere. Talks about making it tropical — Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian was on the table for a while. Scripts were commissioned, written, and rewritten. And then, a few years back, the talks began again in earnest. When Burton finally had his hands on a script he felt good about, he shared it with Keaton.
LOL, Keaton demanded less screen time: In the first movie, Beetlejuice gets a whopping total of 17 minutes of screen time, which is pretty wild when you realize what a knockout presence he was. “Keaton is like an exploding head,” wrote film critic Pauline Kael, reviewing Beetlejuice in The New Yorker. “He isn’t onscreen nearly enough — when he is, he shoots the film sky high.” Part of the deal was, if Keaton were to come back, he didn’t want to take up more space. “The idea was, no, no, no, you can’t load it up with Beetlejuice, that’ll kill it,” Keaton says. “I think the Beetlejuice character doesn’t drive the story as much as he did in the first one. He’s more part of the storyline in this one as opposed to the first one, which is a case of, this thing comes in and drives the movie a little bit.”
Beetlejuice is more ‘thing’ than ‘him’: As for the character himself, there was not a ton of updating to be done there. Beetlejuice, debauched in 1988, remains a debauched sicko in our more enlightened era. “He’s a thing. He’s more of a thing than a he or a she, he’s more of an it. And I’m not saying ‘it’ to be politically correct. I just viewed it as a force more than anything. I mean, there’s definitely strong male energy, like stupid male energy, which I love,” Keaton explains. “You don’t want to touch that because it’s not like you go, ‘Well, it’s a new year and this thing would now act like that.’”
Nice words from costar Catherine O’Hara: And even though Beetlejuice seems so at odds with the rest of Keaton’s public image and filmography, it may actually be the character imbued with the maximum Michael Keaton. “He brought his energy to Beetlejuice,” costar Catherine O’Hara told me. “So that is Michael — real fast-talking, full of great crazy ideas, and really free. There’s a sexiness to him,” O’Hara added, laughing. “Which is crazy to say about Beetlejuice!”
Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian — are you KIDDING me?!?! Can we still get that project off the ground and in the surf? Oh man, Michael, I kind of wish I didn’t know this bit of film trivia. Because now when I watch Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which I will see enthusiastically and plan on enjoying, the image of tropical Beetlejuice will inevitably be popping up in the back of my head. Even now I’m envisioning the juice clad in a brightly colored Hawaiian print shirt, face still ghoulishly pale. Beetlejuice 3, please? Maybe where the stolen prop sculpture is finally found? (Yes, it’s still at large, so it might as well turn up in Hawaii.) And wow, I had no idea Michael Keaton was only onscreen in the original film for 17 minutes, holy cow. What an impact! Some characters just deliver that way, though. Guess how many minutes Margaret Hamilton got as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz? Only 12! Talk about no small parts…
Photos credit: IMAGO/Carlos Tischler / Avalon, EyePix/INSTARimages and via Instagram
“Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian” would have literally jumped the shark.
He is a treasure! Love Mr. Keaton, he is so talented and comes across as genuine. Beetlejuice goes to Hawaii though? Glad that script was left behind 🤣
I agree with Ms O’Hara – Keatons BeetleJuice was sexy AF. There I said it!
He’s a great actor, who has done decades of excellent work. Beeteljuice is probably my favorite though! I wasn’t interested in a sequel but now I’m thinking I might check it out.
I’m definitely checking this out!