--- description: Screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith and director Tim Burton are hopeful the Golden Globe winner will agree to reprise his role title: The 'Beetlejuice' Sequel Was Written Specifically for Michael Keaton image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dbddee54f1f977f/698779622dce01d0e49dce70/michael-keaton.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The _Beetlejuice_ Sequel Was Written Specifically for Michael Keaton  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Jan 12, 2015 5:28 PM CUT  Michael Keaton attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Michael Keaton attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif.Jeff Vespa—WireImage/Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Jan 12, 2015 5:28 PM CUT Michael Keaton’s rather meta take on a washed-up actor who used to play a superhero in _Birdman_ (a kind of in-joke given that Keaton himself played Batman in his younger days) has [won him](http://time.com/3663303/golden-globes-2015-michael-keaton-birdman-speech/ "undefined") a Golden Globe and placed him at the top of many Oscar prediction lists. Now, screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith is hoping Keaton will return to another iconic role: Beetlejuice. Grahame-Smith, whom director Tim Burton has asked to pen a sequel to the 1988 dark comedy, says he rejected the idea of rebooting the film with a new actor. Instead, he’s writing another humorous horror film that will take place in the present-day and allow Keaton to reprise his cackling, lecherous living-dead go-between. Grahame-Smith [told](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywoods-hottest-author-screenwriter-spills-761233 "undefined") _The Hollywood Reporter_ that Keaton advised him “less is more” when it comes to _Beetlejuice_, noting that in the original movie, the titular character doesn’t appear until he’s finally summoned midway through. Burton [said](http://time.com/3645280/tim-burton-beetlejuice-sequel/ "undefined") _Beetlejuice 2_ was “closer than ever” late last year, adding “There’s one Beetlejuice, and that’s Michael.” \[[_THR_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywoods-hottest-author-screenwriter-spills-761233 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3663957/the-beetlejuice-sequel-michael-keaton/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3663957/the-beetlejuice-sequel-michael-keaton/"},"headline":"The Beetlejuice Sequel Was Written Specifically for Michael Keaton","datePublished":"2015-01-12T17:28:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:29:51.438Z","description":"Screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith and director Tim Burton are hopeful the recent Golden Globe winner will agree to reprise his role","url":"https://time.com/3663957/the-beetlejuice-sequel-michael-keaton/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dbddee54f1f977f/698779622dce01d0e49dce70/michael-keaton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6dbddee54f1f977f/698779622dce01d0e49dce70/michael-keaton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards - Arrivals","caption":"72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards - Arrivals","creditText":"Jeff Vespa—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3663957/the-beetlejuice-sequel-michael-keaton/","name":"The Beetlejuice Sequel Was Written Specifically for Michael Keaton"}}]}] ```