24 Beetlejuice Facts That Have Us Dying for the Sequel

Beetlejuice stole our hearts in the late 80s and propelled Tim Burton into stardom as one of the most quintessentially strange filmmakers in the industry. While the movie's premise and characters are hard to explain in a single coherent sentence, that's part of its appeal. Even its peculiar title is mystifying.

Here's some essential Beetlejuice lore to prepare for the upcoming sequel to the 1988 cult classic.

1. It Was Almost Titled ‘House Ghosts' or ‘Scared Sheetless'

Anyone would grant you that Beetlejuice is an obscure name for a film, but then again, obscurity is Tim Burton's whole brand. Warner Bros. had a hard time imagining Beetlejuice becoming an instantly recognizable household name, causing them to beg Burton to change the title and offered suggestions for alternative titles. The first was House Ghosts, which is far too on the nose.

Burton suggested Scared Sheetless as a joke, referencing the scene in which Adam and Barbara's silhouettes fill out a pair of sheets as they trot around the house attempting to spook Lydia. To Burton's disappointment, they liked it, and that wasn't even the worst suggestion. Even Anonymous Haunted House Story 39480 was more appealing to the studio than Beetlejuice. In the end, though, Burton got what he wanted, and the film still emerged as a success.

2. The First Draft of the Script Was More Sinister and Less of a Dark Comedy

Michael McDowell's initial screenplay for Beetlejuice was significantly more grim than the version ultimately produced, which underwent revisions by Larry Wilson and Warren Skaaren. The entire film's plot could be described as darker and more menacing, lacking the comedic tone of its final version.

Screenwriter Laurence Senelick and horror novelist Michael McDowell conceived of a story where Beetlejuice was a murderous winged demon whose intentions leaned towards violence rather than violation and annoying mischievous antics. The Maitlands also suffered a gruesome demise in a much more graphic car accident, and the Deetzes had two daughters rather than one.

3. Tim Burton Wanted Sammy Davis Jr. To Play Beetlejuice

It's almost sacrilegious to imagine anyone but Michael Keaton playing Beetlejuice, but as the story goes, Tim Burton's first choice for the whacky antagonist wasn't Michael Keaton. He had Sammy Davis Jr. in mind — an African American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and Rat Pack member. Had he actually been cast, he would have made history as the first black leading actor in a Tim Burton film — something that wouldn't happen for another 28 years.

Ultimately, studio executives were puzzled by Burton's vision and didn't see his vision. While it took some convincing, the role was offered to Michael Keaton. While appearing on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Burton told the story of how he suggested Davis Jr. for the role, joking that studio executives looked at him like a deer in headlights.

4. It's an Oscar-Winning Film

The film has solidified its place in pop culture thanks to its cult following, Tim Burton's long string of film successes, and the exquisitely eccentric performance of Michael Keaton. However, you might not know that the peculiar fantasy comedy won an Oscar.

Beetlejuice was nominated for and won Best Makeup in 1989, an award that went to Va Neill, Steve LaPorte, and Robert Short, besting makeup artists for Scrooged and Coming to America.

5. We Got That Iconic Day-O Scene Because the Originally Planned R&B Music Was Too Expensive

It's hard to imagine Beetlejuice retaining its iconic status without one of its signature scenes depicting a dance via possession in which the Deetz family becomes overcome with the spirit of song and dance. As the song “Day-O” spills out of Delia Deetz's mouth, the entire dinner table breaks out into an intuitively choreographed dance, complete with hand gestures, synchronized rising and falling from chairs, and a monster hand that emerges from their dinner plates and knocks them over. However, the original plan was for there to be no music during the dinner scene at all.

The original scene took on a much different interpretation, involving spilling a glass of wine, which caused the rug to spout vines and wrap up the guests. The scene wasn't bad, but it needed more spunk. It's believed screenwriter Warren Skaaren, who was brought in to do rewrites, conceived of the supernatural singing and dancing bit, but with R&B music in mind. The only problem was that it was too expensive.

The idea to use “Day-O” came from actress Catherine O'Hara and actor Jeffrey Jones, who suggested it would bring a more fun, lively energy to the scene. The cost for the music was much cheaper — only about $300, and the idea of doing something jarring and out of left field fit perfectly within Beetlejuice‘s theme.

6. Beetlejuice's Name Comes From a Star in the Constellation Orion

Ever wonder where the name “Beetlejuice” even came from? Go outside and look up at the sky to find your answer. Look for three sequential stars in a straight line identified as Orion's belt; that's the easiest way to locate the whole constellation of Orion.

Above Orion's belt, on the left side, you'll find Betelgeuse, the brightest star in the constellation (and ninth brightest in the sky). Okay, but what does this constellation have to do with anything? It's a metaphor; Betelgeuse is an isolated, runaway star because it isn't associated with any star-forming region, and we don't know where its birthplace is — much like the film's titular character.

7. Anjelica Huston Almost Played Delia Deetz & Catherine O'Hara Turned Down the Role

Delia Deetz was initially set to be portrayed by The Addams Family acting legend Anjelica Huston, but she had to drop out due to an illness. Catherine O'Hara, who initially rejected the role, was cast after Burton convinced her to take the role after personally flying out to meet with her. It's a good thing, too, because on the set of the film is where O'Hara met and later married Bo Welch, the film's production designer.

The couple have two sons and have been happily married for 32 years. While on The Kelly Clarkson Show, O'Hara admitted that Burton helped orchestrate the romantic union after O'Hara complained that Welch hadn't asked her out.

8. Many Actresses Were Considered To Play Lydia, but It Came Down to Alyssa Milano & Winona Ryder

Lydia Deetz, the strange, goth, black sheep of the family, was an integral part of Beetlejuice‘s dynamic. She's one of the film's main protagonists. Her unique ability to communicate with ghosts and someone who acts as a fundamental catalyst for the plot (her desire to connect with the supernatural and her interactions with Beetlejuice) is a driving force of the story.

As such, getting her casting right was crucial, especially because she's one of the oddest living characters in the story. Some actresses who were considered include Sarah Jessica Parker, Brooke Shields, Lori Loughlin, Diane Lane, Justine Bateman, Molly Ringwald, Juliette Lewis, and Jennifer Connelly. However, the decision came down to Alyssa Milano and Winona Ryder, with Ryder clearly emerging victorious. Burton says this is owed to Ryder's performance in David Seltzer's film Lucas. 

9. Michael Keaton Turned Down the Role of Beetlejuice Because He Didn't Understand the Movie

Just like Catherine O'Hara, Michael Keaton turned down his role when he was first approached about the film. He was suggested to Burton for the role by producer David Geffen. Despite being a fan of Burton's work, he didn't understand what he was talking about. On Charlie Rose in 2014, he said he told Burton, “I wish I could do it, you seem like a really nice guy, and I know you're creative, but I don't get it.”

Despite his apprehension, he met with Burton two more times, and the director explained the character to him by saying he “exists in all times and spaces,” which got his attention. Landing the role as Beetlejuice also incidentally earned him a place in Burton's Batman franchise. 

10. Alec Baldwin Was Concerned the Film Would End His Career

After accepting the role of Adam in Beetlejuice, Alec Baldwin began to experience regrets, as Tim Burton's directorial style confused him. He explained to GQ that when he had an idea for how to portray the character, Burton merely looked up, uttered the words “No. Don't do that,” and drew his attention back to his paper to draw — something Baldwin insists is the only real direction he was offered during filming.

This haphazard lack of direction left Baldwin without a clue as to what the film was about or if he was doing the right things. Hilariously, he tells GQ he suspected the film would end his career. “I thought my — all of our — careers are going to end with the release of this film. Maybe we're all going to be dead.” Of course, as history would have it, that's not what happened. Beetlejuice became a big hit, becoming a critical and commercial success and launching both Baldwin and Burton's early careers.

11. Burton Encouraged Improvisation, Something Keaton Indulged In

One of the most iconic details about Keaton's performance as Beetlejuice is how much of his irreverent, creepy, slapstick humor was improvised, something that Burton encouraged. Some reports claim up to 90% of his lines were ad-libbed, which is a pretty drastic change from his cluelessness about the character in the project's infancy.

Talking to Rolling Stone about rolling with the creative freedom to improvise, he said, “You show up on the set and just go nuts. It was rave acting. You rage for 12 or 14 hours; then you go home tired and beat and exhausted. It was pretty cathartic.”

Alec Baldwin recalled being incredibly impressed by Keaton's performance and comedic timing during filming in an interview with GQ.

12. The Film's Original Ending Kills off a Major Character

In the film's original conclusion, a significant character passed away, as disclosed by producer Larry Wilson to Yahoo!. According to Wilson, the original ending involved Lydia perishing in a fire and reuniting with Barbara and Adam in the afterlife.

Some people expressed concerns about its message, questioning if the brutal, morbid ending was appropriate to the story. They opted for something more cheery and optimistic through its rewrites. 

13. Despite Earning the Title of the Film, Beetlejuice Barely Has Any Screen Time

Of the film's 92-minute runtime, Beetlejuice occupies a surprisingly small amount of its screen time. Keaton appeared in only 17.5 minutes of his own movie and took just two weeks to film. Despite his brief screen time, every precious minute was like striking gold.

The rest of the time is spent with the film's extensive cast of other characters, like Adam and Barbara, the Deetz family, the family's friends, and the cast of characters introduced to us in the afterlife waiting room.

14. The Film Inspired an Animated Series

An animated series loosely based on the 1988 Beetlejuice film aired for a total of 94 episodes on ABC and Fox from 1989 to 1991. In this adaptation, the dynamic between Lydia Deetz and Beetlejuice is completely transformed, with Beetlejuice guiding her through fantastical escapades in the “Netherworld.”

Unlike the original, the Maitland characters were absent, but Lydia, who is 12 years old, has a group of classmates and befriends eccentric creatures such as a muscular skeleton and a spider with a knack for tap-dancing. The show has a 7.3 rating on IMDb and was a huge hit when it first aired. It became one of the first cartoons to air on the Fox Kids lineup on the Fox channel.

15. Beetlejuice Was the First DVD That Netflix Shipped to Customers After Launching in 1998

Netflix formed as a company in 1997 but didn't launch its website domain until April 14, 1998. Its very first DVD ever shipped was none other than Beetlejuice on March 10, 1998, when the company still operated a DVD mailing service. Of course, now we stream our films online at the touch of a button, but the ability to rent movies through the mail without having to worry about late fees was a revolutionary business model.

The subscription-based service also allowed customers to rent movies online and have them delivered to their homes without ever having to go to the store. It also offered a much wider film and TV selection than a physical store allows. Netflix anticipated that DVDs would become obsolete to online streaming, enabling the company to oust Blockbuster in the movie rental market and become a $252.71 billion company — and it all started with Beetlejuice!

16. The Movie Had a Modest Budget of $15 Million

Beetlejuice was not expected to succeed. The film was made for just $15 million and earned $73.7 million at the domestic box office — a whopping success that took everyone by surprise. It was the tenth highest-grossing film of 1998.

Horror novelist and screenwriter Michael McDowell's partner Laurence Senelick told The Ringer, “Everybody wanted to own it. Nobody wanted to make it.” The film's unconventional, dark, and perplexing premise turned off studios but piqued the interest of a peculiar amateur filmmaker with an affinity for the diabolically strange — Tim Burton.

17. Burton Planned a 1990 Sequel Called Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian

After the box office success of Beetlejuice, Burton conceived of a sequel titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. The Deetz family would open a resort on land that turns out to be an ancient Hawaiian burial ground and enlist Beetlejuice's help again. Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder agreed to return, but the sequel never went into production despite being written by Jonathan Gems in 1990.

Though the masses are ecstatic for a Beetlejuice sequel, the Hawaiian idea didn't pick up steam fast enough for it to materialize. It also ran into scheduling conflicts, as Warner Bros. wanted a sequel to Batman, which took up both Burton and Keaton's time.

18. After an Abandoned Sequel Idea, Years of Speculation, Stalls, and Rewrites, Beetlejuice 2 Was Confirmed

After what feels like an eternity swirling through the rumor mill, confirmation that a sequel to Beetlejuice was going full steam ahead was announced in February 2022. The film's title is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and is set to hit theaters on September 6, 2024.

Keaton, Ryder, and O'Hara will all reprise their roles, and the franchise will see the addition of Jenna Ortega, Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, and Burn Gorman. Ortega, who has teamed up with Burton before on the Netflix series Wednesday, will play Lydia's daughter. Belluci will play Beetlejuice's wife, and Dafoe will play an afterlife law enforcement officer. The plot has been kept under wraps.

19. Test Audiences Wanted Beetlejuice To Have a Happier Ending

Test audiences liked Keaton's portrayal of the green-haired ghoul character in Beetlejuice so much that Tim Burton's crew decided to add a cheerful ending where Beetlejuice bothers a woman who has been sawed in half before getting cursed by a witch doctor whose ticket he stole.

In a previous version, Beetlejuice was trapped in the Maitlands' miniature town and tormented by sandworms. Burton recalled that in early screenings, audiences weren't sure what to make of the film, explaining, “Crickets is the expression, and not just crickets but really confused crickets.”

20. The Original Beetlejuice Character Was Less Kid Friendly

Though Beetlejuice remains reliably crass and irreverent in its official version, he was originally pervier, more violent, and met a dark end. The film hints at Beetlejuice's soft spot for suicide victims, and that's because the original draft of the film saw him take his own life over heartbreak.

The film managed to sneak in an f-bomb and maintain its PG rating due to the timing of a new PG13 rating system being implemented. The film also originally dealt with brutal mutilations and a more murderous Beetlejuice. In one of the scenes, Beetlejuice's relationship with Lydia takes a darker turn, with him attempting to force himself on her. Lydia was also to join the Maitlands in the afterlife.

21. Beetlejuice's Look Was a Collaborative Effort Between Director Tim Burton and Star Michael Keaton

After an inkling of Burton's creative ideas started to resonate with Keaton, he asked to meet with the wardrobe department and put together something based on Burton's description of the character.

He wanted his hair to look like it was electrocuted, came up with a specific walk, wanted clothes from different time periods, rotten teeth, and mold on his face. When he met with Burton again, their visions had somehow aligned.

22. The Lacking Visual Effects Budget Added to Its Charm

The film's artistic style resembles a low-budget B-movie horror flick, with intentionally imperfect effects that come across as tacky and overly fake. Tim Burton opted for this approach due to a limited $1 million budget for visual effects.

This deliberate choice resulted in a charmingly engaging, delightfully quirky, tacky, and fundamentally unserious atmosphere.

23. Michael Keaton Wasn't Cast Until Filming Had Already Started

Michael Keaton, who portrayed Beetlejuice, was not cast until after filming had commenced. Consequently, there were scenes in which the other actors were unaware of who would be playing Beetlejuice. For instance, in the scene where Beetlejuice transforms into a giant snake and threatens the Deetz family, the actors didn't know who they'd be “performing” with.

The shots in the film alternate between the actors' reactions and the stop-motion snake, partly due to the nature of stop-motion animation but also because of the limbo state of casting during production.

24. Tim Burton Had To Beg Actress Sylvia Sidney To Play Juno, the Afterlife Detective

Geena Davis and Michael Keaton readily agreed to join the film after meeting Tim Burton. However, Burton had to persuade Sylvia Sidney, a veteran of Golden Age Hollywood, to take on the role of the afterlife detective, Juno. Despite initial reluctance, Sidney accepted the role and later collaborated with Burton again in the 1996 film Mars Attacks!, which marked her final film appearance before her passing in 1999.

A huge fan of her work, Burton had his mind set on her for the role and continued to pursue her for it despite her constant rejection and insistence that she didn't understand the script. Burton posits that he begged for her to take the role.

When Sidney finally agreed to work with director Tim Burton on Beetlejuice, she was unaware of the impact it would have on a new film genre. Despite turning down the offer multiple times due to being unfamiliar with Burton and finding the script confusing, she eventually relented after a lengthy conversation with Burton and receiving a revised script.

Upon meeting Burton in person, Sidney was charmed by his sensitivity and vision for the film. She recalls in a 1990 interview with LA Times about how she felt about Burton after they sat for breakfast and lunch, “I was in love . . . his sensitivity, how he thought about scenes.”