Production on Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice 2” started in May and had to be halted on July 14th due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
In a revelatory interview with The Independent, Burton expressed frustration given that he “was less than two days away from completing shooting” on the long-awaited film.
There’s now reporting that the film has finally completed production. Several blocks in the town of Melrose, Massachusetts where the project was filming earlier this year, “crews, cables, and production trucks” confirmes that filming would be completed by Friday or Saturday (via WBZ).
The film is due to be released next September. Burton had previously mentioned hopes in finishing the film as soon as the actors’ strike was resolved. “I feel grateful we got what we got. Literally, it was a day and a half,” he had said. “We know what we have to do. It is 99 per cent done”.
Burton, who had, what he calls, a “soul destroying” experience making films for Disney these last few years, says he felt rejuvenated making this “Beetlejuice” sequel:
I tried to strip everything and go back to the basics of working with good people and actors and puppets. It was kind of like going back to why I liked making movies.”
Composer Danny Elfman confirmed his presence for the sequel which has a cast that includes Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Willem Dafoe, Jenna Ortega, Catherine O’Hara and Monica Bellucci.
Burton’s last film was 2019’s “Dumbo.” Last October, the director stated that he was done making Disney movies because he felt enslaved working for them. It makes sense. Burton has not directed a good movie in almost 10 years.
Regardless, he has an impressive filmography that includes “Beetlejuice”, “Batman,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Ed Wood”, “Sleepy Hollow”, “Mars Attacks”, “Big Fish” and “Sweeney Todd”. A Burton comeback is always welcomed.
The last thing Burton worked on was the mega-popular Netflix series “Wednesday” — he directed the first four episodes and was also the creator of that show. Ortega was the lead actress of the series.