Filmmaker Tim Burton was reportedly less than two days away from completing filming on the “Beetlejuice” sequel when the production was halted by the actor’s strike.
Speaking with The Independent, Burton says he hopes to finish the project as soon as the actor’s strike is resolved:
“I feel grateful we got what we got. Literally, it was a day and a half. We know what we have to do. It is 99 per cent done.”
The director also says making a big studio movie generally is such an exhausting experience for him he is often “left wrecked” by the end and vows not to do it again.
That wasn’t the case with this follow-up to the 1988 classic horror comedy, which took things back to basics like the way they did it on the original:
“On this last one, Beetlejuice 2, I really enjoyed it. 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.”
The new film brings back cast members such as Michael Keaton as the titular bio-exorcist spook with disgusting manners, along with Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, Jenna Ortega as Lydia’s daughter and Catherine O’Hara as Lydia’s mother. Willem Dafoe and Justin Theroux also star.
“Beetlejuice 2” is still slated for next Fall.