While promoting his film ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,’ Seth Grahame-Smith was asked about rumors of his involvement in regards to writing a sequel to the 1988 Tim Burton classic ghostly hit ‘Beetlejuice.’ Fans of the movie will be happy to hear that Grahame-Smith says that the rumors are true and that it is something he hopes to write soon.

While speaking to Collider, Grahame-Smith revealed that Michael Keaton would definitely return to play the other worldly bio-exorcist and that the film would be a true sequel taking place 26-27 years after the original. Although he has admitted that he hasn’t actually had a chance to sit down and write the ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel (that’s because he has a few more movies to write first), he is excited about the project:

“Beetlejuice is hopefully the third thing I’m gonna write this year. I’ve met with Tim about it, I’ve met with Michael Keaton about it. There’s a lot of goodwill to want to do it from both of those guys; Tim from a producing aspect and Michael from returning to the character. Again, it’s on me. It’s whether or not I can come up with a script that’s worthy of them jumping back in.”

As for what the plot of the sequel would entail, Grahame-Smith wouldn’t say but he did insist that his script would be a true sequel set in real time and not a reboot:

“I have a rough idea of what it’s gonna be. However—I should stress this—it’s not a remake, it’s not a reboot, it is a true sequel with Michael Keaton as the title character Beetlejuice. The thing that Tim and Michael and I all agree on, and is most important for me is, I don’t wanna be the guy that destroys the legacy and the memory of the first film; I would rather die. I would rather just not make it, I’d rather just throw the whole thing away than make something that pays no respect and doesn’t live up even close to the legacy of the first film…This will be a true 26 or 27 years later sequel. What’s great is that for Beetlejuice, time means nothing in the afterlife, but the world outside is a different story.”

Since I love the original movie, I’m glad to hear that Grahame-Smith will not mess with what is already an excellent movie on its own. I’m surprised to hear that Tim Burton will only produce the film and not direct but that may change if Grahame-Smith provides a script that he’ll really want to be involved with. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long before Grahame-Smith has time to write as this sequel is one that fans have already waited a quarter of a century for!