Tim Burton has revealed there was one film that made him want to quit directing.
During an interview with Varietythe 65-year-old admitted he considered quitting after directing the 2019 film Dumbo.
“Honestly, after Dumbo, I really didn’t know,” he said of the film starring Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito and Colin Farrell.
“I thought that was it, really. I could have retired, or… well, I would never have been an animator again, that’s over.”
The Burbank, California, resident explained that COVID has created a period of “flux” professionally.
But things changed for the better when he worked on Wednesday (2022) and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) and gave his creativity the revival it needed.
Tim Burton admitted he considered retiring after directing Dumbo in 2019; seen August 14 in Mexico
He explained: ‘It gave me new energy. Often when you get into Hollywood you try to be responsible for what you do with the budget and everything around it, but sometimes you lose yourself a little bit.
“It reinforced in me the feeling that it is important that I do what I want to do, because then everyone benefits,” he said.
Over the years, Burton has worked on major projects with dark themes, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Corpse Bride (2005), FrankenWeenie (2012) and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016).
He directed Beetlejuice (1988), among others, the sequel of which, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, comes out more than thirty years after the release of the flagship film.
When talking about the revived project, he admitted that he had no plans for a new installment of the beloved horror comedy.
He said: ‘First of all, I had no idea about doing a sequel – again, this is before those things were talked about. But revisiting it now was fun, because Lydia was a character I always felt strongly about. What happens to people 35 years later?
“Where do they go? What’s their journey? And what happened to the Deetz family? That feeling about it was pretty simple and emotional for me. That became the anchor of where it goes from there,” he added.
The director explained that reuniting with the cast and crew after all these years made him “emotional.”
He said, “And then with all the people I love working with — Michael Keaton and Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder — it was just really weird but wonderful. And with the new cast, it felt emotional but also new.
“And I haven’t watched the original again, mainly because I never knew why it was successful in the first place. So I just treated it as something I couldn’t think about. Just dive in and do it quickly — like we’ve done in the past,” he shared.
He explained: ‘A lot of times when you come into Hollywood you try to be responsible for what you do with the budget and everything else, but sometimes you lose yourself a little bit’; Colin Farrell and Tim seen on the set of Dumbo (2019)
“It reinforced the feeling for me that it is important that I do what I want to do, because then everyone benefits,” he said
He most notably directed Beetlejuice (1988), whose sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, comes out more than thirty years after the flagship film was released. Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton to be seen on the set of Beetlejuice in 2024
The film is scheduled for release on September 6; cast members Jenna Ortega, Catherine O’Hara, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci and Tim are expected in 2024
He also said that fans shouldn’t expect him to work on more superhero films after working with Warner Bros. on Batman and Batman Returns; Michael Keaton as Batman in 1989.
As for Burton’s next project, the multi-talented actor said he’s waiting to see how Beetlejuice Beetlejuice does in theaters before making any new offers.
The film will be released on September 6.
He also said that fans shouldn’t expect him to work on more superhero films after working with Warner Bros. on Batman and Batman Returns.
“Right now I would say no. Like I said, I look at things from different perspectives, so I would never say never to anything. But right now it’s not something I would be interested in,” he admitted.