Tim Burton turned down a streaming-only release for Beetlejuice 2, and it cost the movie $48 million

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 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 his 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 Beetlejuice Features the return of several actors from the original film, including Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse, Winona Ryder as Lidia Deetz, and Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz, and has been a big hit in theaters since its release earlier this month.

A new report from The New York Times Now reveals that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was originally positioned as a Max streaming exclusive. As Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Pamela Abdy recalls, Burton wasn’t on board with his sequel not getting a theatrical release:

“That was never going to work for Tim. You’re talking about a visionary artist whose films demand to be seen on a big screen.”

The projected budget for the film, however, 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 fly. Abdy and Michael De Luca, chairman of Warner Bros. Entertainment, agreed to give Beetlejuice Beetlejuice a theatrical release, But only if the budget could drop below $100 million. Burton and his agent, Mike Simpson, then set out to cut costs wherever they could, starting with salaries.

“Two months went by where every day the movie almost died“, recalls Simpson. But in the end, Burton himself took a number of cuts, and Simpson would eventually get stars Keaton, O’Hara, Ryder and newcomer Jenna Ortega (who plays Lydia’s daughter, Astrid Deetz) to take reduced salaries. In exchange for larger pieces of the back end of the film.

While this maneuvering and negotiating was taking place, Abdy and De Luca were pumping hundreds of thousands into Beetlejuice Beetlejuice pre-production, which Simpson said “Showed real guts, especially for two executives who were fairly new to their jobs.” In the end, the salary cuts combined with tax incentives brought the sequel’s budget down to $99 million.

What a theatrical release means for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Tim Burton made the right choice to push for theater

Considering how the Burton sequel is performing in theaters, he obviously made the right choice. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Reviews are generally positive from critics, and the film currently enjoys a respectable 77% on Rotten tomatoes. The audience score is up to 82%, and the movie has a B+ on cinemascore. On Metacritic, the sequel scored a less impressive 62/100 with critics and 6.5/10 with audiences, though that’s not surprising given Metacritic Scores almost always come in slightly lower compared to Rotten Tomatoes.

Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceThe box office figures have been even more impressive. The film grossed $111 million in its opening weekendWith a domestic total that now stands at $188 million. Internationally, the film has grossed $76 million to date, bringing its worldwide total to $264 million. Only two weekends in, then, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has almost certainly broken even, and the stars who took salary cuts in favor of more on the back end are likely in for some big paydays.

How Beetlejuice 2 Compares to the Original Critically and Commercially

Burton’s 1988 film remains a cult classic

Other than that Play Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), Beetlejuice Arguably marks the beginning of Burton’s heyday as a filmmaker, coming just before Batman (1989), for which he reunited with Keaton, Edward Scissorhands (1990), Batman Returns (1992), and Ed Wood (1994). A step down from Beetlejuice Beetlejuices budget, the original was made for only $15 million, and it became a success immediately after release.

The film ultimately grossed just under $75 million domestically and only about $172,000 internationally. Interestingly, the performance of the sequel, although an improvement overseas, suggests that the franchise does not have the same appeal internationally as in North America.

Critically, as seen in the chart above, the first Beetlejuice Edges out the sequel in most respects. On Rotten Tomatoes, the original 1988 movie has an 83% score from critics, a clear win, but the audience scores are, as of writing, an exact match. Considering audience scores are still added for the sequel, however, it is still entirely possible that the result will change. on metacritic, Beetlejuice Scored 71/100 with critics and 7.8/10 with users, both significantly better scores than the sequel.

Our take on the theatrical release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Why Warner Bros.’ Hesitation is understandable

Considering Burton’s last major box office hit came in 2010 with Alice in Wonderland And the first Beetlejuice The film is 36 years old, It is not surprising that WB was unwilling to make a sequel to a $147 million budget level.

Clearly, however, love for Burton’s 1988 original remains, especially in North America, and the theatrical release is ultimately the right choice. This is especially true because an extra $48 million for the film’s budget, apparently, would not have helped with a particularly gross sequence or more effects, and would have mostly covered salaries. If Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Had it forgone a theatrical release and debuted on Max instead with a higher budget level, it probably would have come and gone with little fanfare.

Source: The New York Times

Key background

• Michael Keaton and Tim Burton wanted it to have the same practical effects of the original.

• Writer Seth Grahame-Smith has been working on the script since 2012.

• This is the second sequel Tim Burton and Michael Keaton have worked on since Batman Returns (1992).