Michael Keaton says he wanted Beetlejuice sequel to be ‘handmade’ adding it was ‘the most fun I’ve had on set in a long time’

Michael Keaton talks about his long-awaited follow-up to his 1988 hit Beetlejuice, simply titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

The 72-year-old actor returns as the title character for the sequel fans have been clamoring for for more than three decades, which finally hits theaters on September 6.

During a new interview (via People) for his dramatic thriller Knox Goes Away (which he stars in and directs), which hit theaters on March 15, Keaton revealed he had a blast on set.

‘It’s the most fun I’ve had on set in a long time. On the one hand you’d say, “Well, of course that’s the nicest thing. It looks nice.” As you know, it doesn’t always work that way,” Keaton said.

The original Beetlejuice was a box office hit, grossing $73.7 million (which, adjusted for inflation, is $192.1 million in 2024 dollars) on a budget of just $10 million, becoming the 10th highest-grossing film from 1988.

The 72-year-old actor returns as the title character for the sequel fans have been clamoring for for more than three decades, which finally hits theaters on September 6.

Despite the success and the avid fan following Sill, a sequel was slow to materialize over the years.

“We thought, ‘You have to do this right. Otherwise, just don’t do it. Let’s just go on with our lives and do other things,'” Keaton explained.

“So I was hesitant and cautious, and he was probably just as hesitant and cautious all those years,” Keaton added.

Keaton added that both he and director Tim Burton were both on the same page when it came to the use of CGI and special effects.

“The one thing that he and I decided early on, early on, from the beginning, if we were ever going to do it again, was that I was not at all interested in doing anything where there was too much technology. It had to feel handmade,” Keaton said.

“What made it fun was to see someone in the corner actually holding something up for you, to look at everyone in the shrunken main room and see, ‘Those are people down there, operating these things, trying to get it right get,” he continued. .

While Keaton didn’t address the “shrunken head room,” there was a scene in the original Beetlejuice where a medicine man shrunk his own head.

He added: ‘It’s the most exciting thing. If you can do that again after years of standing in front of a big screen and pretending that someone is standing in front of you, it’s just great fun.’

Despite the success and the avid fan following Sill, a sequel was slow to materialize over the years

While Keaton didn’t address the “shrunken head room,” there was a scene in the original Beetlejuice where a medicine man shrunk his own head.

Catherine O’Hara also returns from the original film as Delia Deetz, revealing she has a one-on-one scene with Douglas’ Beetlejuice

Catherine O’Hara also returns from the original film as Delia Deetz, revealing that she has a one-on-one scene with Douglas’ Beetlejuice.

Although she appeared in a number of group shots with Keaton’s Beetlejuice, she did not get a one-on-one shot with him until this sequel.

“I had a little two-person moment with Michael as Beetlejuice. I had been in group scenes with Michael in the first film, but in this I had a real moment where it was just the two of us,” she said.

“And it was just so crazy and exciting, just being face to face with Beetlejuice. He looks the same. Beetlejuice has aged really well,” she joked.