20 facts you might not know about 'Beetlejuice'

The surprise hit of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Burton’s debut feature, basically proved to Hollywood that Burton was a viable director. As such, he started working on a big project: a Batman movie. Warner Bros. was willing to work with Burton on his Batman film, but the studio wasn’t ready to greenlight it, which left Burton in need of a project to fill the void — and perhaps to further prove himself.

Burton was being approached with all sorts of scripts that he had zero interest in. Then, he was given Michael McDowell’s script for what would become Beetlejuice. McDowell would end up sharing "story by" credit with Larry Wilson and screenplay credit with Warren Skaaren. This was not the first time that Burton and McDowell worked together. The writer had written an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents called “The Jar,” directed by Burton.

McDowell wasn’t really interested in making a comedy. His script was much less comedic and decidedly darker. The death of the Maitlands was graphically depicted, and Betelgeuse (this is his actual name, let’s not forget) is less impish and more, well, murderous. The Deetzes also had a younger daughter who Betelgeuse attacks in the form of a rabid squirrel in the film’s climax.

Wilson, who got "story by" credit and produced the film, was working as a director of development at Universal under the director Walter Hill when he saw the script for Beetlejuice. He has told the story, such as to Den of Geek in 2014, of recommending the script to a “very prominent executive” at Universal. Wilson gave him the script Friday and was called to the executive’s office on Monday. He assumed it was going to be a positive meeting. Instead, the executive said to him, “What are you doing with your career?” and was completely baffled by the script. Wilson would then help sell the script to The Geffen Company to produce it.

We’ll use the name Betelgeuse has come to be known by for ease. Once Burton signed on, he knew just who he wanted to play the chaotic bio-exorcist: Sammy Davis Jr. Yes, the guy from the Rat Pack.

Sam Kinison was in the running for Beetlejuice, which made sense in the late ‘80s, and so was Dudley Moore. Then, somebody suggested up-and-coming comedic actor Michael Keaton. Burton was admittedly unfamiliar with Keaton’s work but quickly became an enthusiastic supporter of him. Not just with Beetlejuice, of course. Let’s not forget that Burton fought to cast Keaton as Batman, a decision that made them both Hollywood royalty.

There were a lot of notable young ladies up for the role of future goth teen icon Lydia Deetz. We’re talking about Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Lane, Juliette Lewis, Jennifer Connelly, and more. Alyssa Milano was the runner-up for the part. Ultimately, it was Winona Ryder who got the role.

Anjelica Huston was initially cast as Delia Deetz, Lydia’s mom. Given that she would eventually play Morticia Addams, that makes sense. However, Huston had to leave the movie due to an illness. She was replaced by Catherine O’Hara, who naturally nailed the role.

Burton was devoted to his influences early in his career. He had specific ideas for the visual effects in Beetlejuice, and it wasn’t to be state of the art. Burton wanted the film to look like the B movies of his youth, saying of the special effects, “I wanted to make them look cheap and purposely fake-looking.”

McDowell called his script "Beetlejuice," and Burton liked that title, but Warner Bros. initially wasn’t sold. They suggested “House Ghosts,” a descriptive if generic alternative. Burton, in a fit of pique, jokingly and derisively threw out the title “Scared Sheetless.” He was then horrified when the studio genuinely considered that title.

Beetlejuice is set in the fictional village of Winter River, Connecticut (and the Netherworld, of course). All the interiors were shot in a studio in Los Angeles, but the exteriors of the town of East Corinth, Vermont, were used to stand in for Winter River.

Burton wasn’t sure about the “Day-O” scene where the possessed dinner party attendees lip sync and dance to Harry Belafonte’s song about a banana boat. He didn’t think it was all that funny and thought audiences wouldn’t like it. That proved incorrect, as it’s one of the film's most famous and beloved sequences. At the memorial service of Glenn Shadix, who played Otho, they even played “Day-O” as part of it.

Whenever the ghost with the most is on the screen, he takes over the film. That being said, Beetlejuice is far from the protagonist of the movie. In fact, he is on screen for only a little over 14 minutes total. Apparently, a lot of Keaton’s dialogue was also improvised.

Burton decided to add the epilogue of Beetlejuice in the afterlife waiting room, where his head gets shrunk. They didn’t write or film the scene until the movie was already in post-production.

O’Hara is only in Beetlejuice because Huston dropped out. Bo Welch was only the production designer because Burton’s first choice, Anton Furst, was working on another movie. Because of these circumstances, Welch and O’Hara met. They married in 1992 and have two children together.

Burton showed that Pee-wee’s Big Adventure wasn’t a fluke with Beetlejuice. The movie was made on a $15 million budget and earned $73.7 million domestically. This made it the 10th-highest-grossing film of 1988.

The makeup team on Beetlejuice had a lot of work, but it all paid off. They won Best Makeup at the Academy Awards. Meanwhile, the Saturn Awards gave it Best Makeup and Best Horror Film. Years later, Beetlejuice would also finish 88th on AFI’s list of all-time best comedies.

Kids of the ‘90s were likely introduced to Beetlejuice in a decidedly friendlier way. After the movie’s success, a Beetlejuice cartoon was produced for ABC, debuting in 1989 and airing four seasons through 1991. Burton was an executive producer on the show. The cartoon was definitely different from the film. The Maitlands are not around at all, and Beetlejuice and Lydia are friends. This is strikingly different from the movie, where Beetlejuice tries to take Lydia as a child bride.

While there is a decent amount of music in Beetlejuice — primarily Harry Belafonte songs — it was not necessarily an obvious choice for a Broadway musical. However, that indeed became the case. Alex Brightman was cast in the titular role. The musical was nominated for eight Tonys, though it didn’t win any of them. The COVID-19 pandemic paused the run of Beetlejuice, but it returned to Broadway in 2022, with Brightman still in the role of Beetlejuice.

As soon as 1990, Burton had plans for a sequel to Beetlejuice. He even hired the writer Jonathan Gems to pen a screenplay for a film called “Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian.” That sounds amazing, but that idea never found footing and effectively died on the vine. 

In 2011, Seth Graeme-Smith was hired to write a new script for a Beetlejuice sequel that would be set in the present time, with an adult Lydia. Ryder was enthusiastic about it. This idea fell by the wayside for a bit, but in February 2022, a sequel was announced, with Keaton and Ryder reportedly returning.