Tim Burton turned down an exclusive streaming release Beetlejuice 2 and the film cost him 48 million dollars
Beetlejuice 2 It was originally going to be a streaming exclusive with a bigger budget, until director Tim Burton stepped in. Serving as a follow-up to the 1988 cult classic, the sequel follows three generations of the Deetz family as they return to Winter River and accidentally open a portal to the Afterlife. Beetlejuice 2 It features the return of several actors from the original film, including Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse, Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz and Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz, and has been a huge hit in theaters since its release earlier this month.
A new report from The New York Times reveals that Beetlejuice 2 was originally positioned as a Max Streaming exclusive. As Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Pamela Abdy recalls, Burton was not okay with his sequel not getting a theatrical release:
“That was never going to work for Tim. We are talking about a visionary artist whose films demand to be seen on the big screen,” he said.
However, the projected budget for the film was estimated at $147 million, due in large part to producer fees and star salaries. Given Burton’s somewhat spotty track record at the box office over the past 15 years, this wasn’t going to work. Abdy and Michael De Luca, president of Warner Bros. Entertainment, agreed to give Burton a chance to make $147 million. Beetlejuice 2 a theatrical release, but only if the budget could be brought down to under $100 million. Burton and his agent, Mike Simpson, then set about cutting costs wherever they could, starting with salaries.
“Two months went by, with the film almost dying every day,” Simpson recalls. But in the end, Burton himself agreed to a pay cut, and Simpson eventually got stars Keaton, O’Hara, Ryder and newcomer Jenna Ortega (who plays Lydia’s daughter, Astrid Deetz) to also take reduced salaries in exchange for larger shares of the film’s final earnings.
While these maneuvers and negotiations were taking place, Abdy and De Luca were investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in the pre-production of Beetlejuice, which, according to Simpson, “It showed real guts, especially for two executives who were fairly new in their jobs.” In the end, these pay cuts combined with tax incentives reduced the sequel’s budget to $99 million.
What would mean a maximum liberation for Beetlejuice 2
Considering how Burton’s sequel has performed in theaters, it’s clear he made the right decision. Reviews for Beetlejuice 2 have been generally positive from critics, and the film currently enjoys a respectable 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score is higher at 81%, and the film has a B+ CinemaScore.
Box office figures for Beetlejuice 2 have been even more impressive. The film grossed $111 million domestically in its opening weekend, with its domestic total now sitting at $188 million. Internationally, the film has so far grossed $76 million, bringing its worldwide total to $264 million. So after just two weekends, Beetlejuice has almost certainly broken even, and the stars who took pay cuts in favor of more of the finale are likely to receive big paydays.
