‘Beetlejuice’: Tim Burton Was Horrified by This Alternate Title

With 1988’s Beetlejuice, director Tim Burton was arguably at the height of his powers. The director had only made a single movie before it — 1985’s Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure — and instantly established himself a promising new voice. In the years since its release, Beetlejuice has remained one of Burton’s most popular movies. But would the film have attracted such a devoted fan following if the studio had released it under less engaging, curious title?

Tim Burton’s ‘Beetlejuice’ is 1 of his most popular movies

Over the years, Burton has directed 19 movies. But from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure up through 2019’s live-action Dumbo, few of his films have encapsulated the Burton aesthetic quite like Beetlejuice. Perhaps part of this is due to the fact that it’s among the only ones not based on existing source material. Films like Batman, Ed Wood, Big Fish, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street are all adaptations of comics, novels, and stage musicals.

But Beetlejuice — like 1990’s Edward Scissorhands — gives Burton a clean palette with which to paint his own cinematic picture. Couple that artistic freedom with iconic performances from Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, and the film ends up being an instant classic. On a reported $15 million production budget, Beetlejuice earned nearly five times as much with $74 million domestically, according to Box Office Mojo.

The movie almost had a terrible alternate title instead

In its final form, Beetlejuice does feel distinctively Burton-esque. But that doesn’t mean the director didn’t have to fight for his movie every step of the way. According to Paul A. Woods’ Burton biography Tim Burton: A Child’s Garden of Nightmares, Warner Bros. executives were hesitant to release the film with the title Beetlejuice. Their suggestion instead was House Ghosts.

Burton countered that thought with an even more cringe-worthy title — Scared Sheetless — and was surprised to find the studio executives were open to that title too. Thankfully, Beetlejuice kept its titular character at the forefront. If nothing else, that title keeps the specter — pun intended — of Keaton’s character present even when he’s not on screen for long periods of time.

Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder want to make a sequel

Although it was a hit, Beetlejuice 2 has never gotten off the ground. Back in 1990, reports circulated that Burton, Keaton, and Ryder were onboard for a sequel, then titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. Even now, the two stars seem open to reprising their fan-favorite roles if Burton is involved.

But after so many decades, the chances of Beetlejuice ever getting a sequel is perhaps slim. At least fans have four seasons of the Beetlejuice animated series to keep them company. That show — which focuses on a friendship between the title character and Lydia — ran from 1989 to 1991. And then there’s the recent Broadway musical inspired by the movie, which ran from 2018 to 2020.