A sequel to the Academy Award-winning comedy classic ‘Beetlejuice‘ has been in the works at Warner Bros. for some time now. After making some moves throughout the 90s, the studio tapped Seth Grahame-Smith of ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ and ‘Pride & Prejudice & Zombies’ fame in 2011 to write the script with David Katzenberg. Every so often, we’d get an update from original director Tim Burton, Winona Ryder, or Michael Keaton. Although last month, it was Keaton who said that the ship had sailed. But fans of the Ghost With The Most might have another chance to see him very soon on the Great Fright… I mean, White Way.
According to the New York Post, Alex Timbers is currently working with WB on a stage version of ‘Beetlejuice’ for the 2018-2019 Broadway season. Previously, he had been attached to Disney’s highly anticipated ‘Frozen’ musical, but the director known for his work on ‘Rocky: The Musical’ and the Imelda Marcos musical ‘Here Lies Love’ was apparently “overwhelmed” by the sheer magnitude of Queen Elsa and Princess Anna’s upcoming spectacle, so he departed the production in favor of directing a workshop of David Byrne’s musical about Joan of Arc titled ‘St. Joan’.
As for his work with the troublemaking BJ, the report has no details regarding Timbers’ involvement on the ‘Beetlejuice’ musical other than it being a thing that’s being worked on. One would assume that songs would be crafted based on Danny Elfman’s iconic score from the film in addition to the memorable Harry Belafonte songs like ‘The Banana Boat Song’ and ‘Jump In The Line (Shake Señora)’. I could also see the show being a jukebox musical featuring pre-existing songs, similar to what the sassy specter has done at Universal Studios theme parks in the past for shows like ‘Beetlejuice’s Rock and Roll Graveyard Revue’ and ‘Extreme Ghostbusters: The Great Fright Way!’. But no matter which route the creative team decide to go, I can already picture the final scene of the movie looking great on stage as sort of a ‘Defying Gravity’/Tim Burton/dance party mash-up.
Would you see a musical based on the 1988 film ‘Beetlejuice’? Let us know in the comment section.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
