The performance ofBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceshows that Tim Burton has finally recovered from the billion-dollar movie that sent his career into a tailspin. Burton is a filmmaker who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with his debut featurePee-wee’s BIg Adventureand is best known for his gleefully macabre design sensibility that is showcased in titles such as 1988’sBeetlejuice, 1990’sEdward Scissorhands, and 2007’sSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. In his career so far, he has been nominated for two Oscars. Both were for Best Animated Feature, for 2005’sCorpse Brideand 2012’sFrankenweenie.
Burton’s most recent project isBeetlejuice Beetlejuice, the legacy sequel to his horror-comedy hit, which sees him re-teaming withWednesday’s Jenna Ortega as well as legacy stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara, all reprising their roles from the original movie. TheBeetlejuice Beetlejuicebox officehas so far reached a whopping $449.1 million against a budget of $100 million. At the time of writing it is the seventh highest-grossing movie of 2024, behind the hitsKung Fu Panda 4,Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,Dune: Part Two,Despicable Me 4,Deadpool & Wolverine, andInside Out 2.
Beetlejuice 2 Cast & Returning Character Guide
Several iconic actors from the original are returning for Beetlejuice 2, and they’ll be joined in the sequel by exciting new additions to the cast.
Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland Was Part Of A Bigger Career Shift & Deeper Decline
The Disney Remake Was A Hit, But A Portent of Doom
The biggest turning point leading into the decline of Tim Burton’s career was the release of2010’sAlice in Wonderland. The live-action Disney remake, which received a Rotten Tomatoes splat with a 50% Tomatometer score, nevertheless became a massive box office hit.It grossed $1.025 billion against its roughly $200 million budget, quickly becoming the highest-grossing movie of the director’s entire career and remaining so through the time of writing.
Alice in Wonderlandstarred Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, and Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar.
Alice in Wonderlanddid not necessarily directly markBurton’s shift from offbeatauteurto studio gun-for-hire. His 2001Planet of the Apesremake and the 2005 Roald Dahl adaptationCharlie and the Chocolate Factorysaw him building up to his work on the 2010 title. However, as the most successful of these movies and the one that feels the least attached to Burton’s inimitable style,Alicebecame the true marker of the career downturn that was to come for Burton in the ensuing years as he chased its success within a limiting studio framework.
The 2010s Was Tim Burton’s Worst Decade
He Suffered Both Critically And Commercially
Alice in Wonderlandestablished the approach forTim Burton moviesof the 2010s, which had more or less immediate diminishing returns. While many of the projects he chose were seemingly good fits for his iconic style,the decade saw him becoming more of a brand than a filmmaker, capturing his style without including his unique voice and heart, with the exception of his stop-motion passion projectFrankenweenie, the origins of which date back to his early career in the 1980s.
2012’sFrankenweenieis a remake and expansion of Burton’s original 1984 short film of the same name.
This slow deflation of Burton’s career culminated in the release of 2019’sDumbo, a Disney live-action remake that was a clear attempt to recreate the success ofAlice in Wonderlandthat was a failure andled Burton to declare that he would prefer not to work with Disney again. PerIndieWire, he described the feeling of making the production was like “working in this horrible big circus” and that the movie’s themes became semi-autobiographical. Below, see a full breakdown of the critical and commercial reception of Burton’s post-Alicemovies of the 2010s:
$150 million
$245.5 million
35%
$39 million
$81.5 million
87%
$10 million
$29.3 million
72%
$110 million
$296.5 million
65%
$170 million
$353.3 million
46%
As the table reflects, Burton’s movies were erratically received through the 2010s. While he hit an early high point with the consecutive releases ofFrankenweenieandBig Eyes, which were quite well received and made decent box office grosses,the remainder of his movies had middling to outright poor reception. Because a movie’s break-even point is typically two-and-a-half-times its production budget, it seems unlikely that eitherDark ShadowsorDumboactually turned a profit, whileMiss Peregrinejust barely crossed the threshold, which may explain why a sequel never materialized.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Is Tim Burton Reclaiming Himself
His Creativity Has Come Roaring Back
WhileBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceis a property that exists because of the commercial interests of studios,the movie is nevertheless a return to form for Burton, bursting with the filmmaker’s inimitable unique spirit to a degree that has not been seen in full in any of his movies since at leastFrankenweenie. In fact, Burton seems wildly creative and engaged to a fault, as there are almost too many ideas in the movie, as if he has 15 years of pent-up material ready to be brought to the screen.
Burton is really only using the original [Beetlejuice] as a jumping-off point…
Regardless, the director seems to be born from a genuine interest in making a pure Tim Burton movie rather than a shallow facsimile of movies that came before. This is the case even though its existence is a transparent nostalgia bid, as Burton is really only using the original as a jumping-off point to stuff the screen with new ideas, expanding the franchise’s universe with bold brush strokes.Critics and audiences are responding well to this approach, asBeetlejuice Beetlejuicereviewshave earned the movie a Certified Fresh 77% score on Rotten Tomatoes alongside an even better 79% audience score.
Can Tim Burton Build On Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s Success?
His Next Movie Could Cement His Creative Rejuvenation
It ultimately remains to be seen if theBeetlejuice Beetlejuicereleasewill be followed by further success for Burton. Outside of the Netflix seriesWednesday, he has no future projects that have been officially announced. While a thirdBeetlejuicewould likely be a commercial success, his trepidation about the idea shows thathe seems to still be in a mode where creativity is key, which could work to propel his next movie, be it an original or an IP-driven project.
Beetlejuice 3: Confirmation & Everything We Know
Tim Burton’s classic horror comedy Beetlejuice got a long-awaited sequel in 2024, and development has even begun on Beetlejuice 3.
While it could be difficult for him to get an original project to become a hit at the level of the legacy sequel, the success ofBeetlejuice BeetlejuiceandWednesdaysuggest that there is still an appetite for “true” Tim Burton projects. PerVariety,the director himself even openly acknowledged the fact that the movie feels like a return to form, saying that the production was “reenergizing” and that he appreciated “getting back to… things I love doing.” If this spirit carries on to whatever comes next, it could very well evoke that same sensibility and become a similar success.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Cast
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the sequel to the original Tim Burton classic that starred Michael Keaton and Wynona Rider in a horror-comedy that involved ghosts trying to scare off new homebuyers from taking their house. The sequel brings back Michael Keaton as the hilarious and sleazy ghost with selfish intentions, now joined by Jenna Ortega in a new role.
