Posted in: Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: beetlejuice 2, strike, tim burton, warner bros discovery

Beetlejuice 2 Forced To Halt Production With The Film "99% Done"

Beetlejuice 2 director Tim Burton has revealed that they had to halt production with the film "99% done" due to studios refusing to pay writers and actors livable wages, also known as the ongoing strikes.

The ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes have impacted productions since the writers first went on strike in May. We have seen numerous productions shut down in the wake of these strikes, and even more, were shut down once the actors went on strike in July. All of this could have been avoided if studios would pay actors and writers livable wages, but since that is apparently asking for too much, here we are. Yet another film has been forced to halt production due to studios continuing to be greedy, and, in this case, it was a movie that had managed to get around the strikes and get most of the film produced. Beetlejuice 2 continued production despite the strikes because it was shot in England. However, according to an interview with The Independent, director Tim Burton reveals that the strike has forced them to halt the production with very little remaining.

"I feel grateful we got what we got. Literally, it was a day and a half," he says. "We know what we have to do. It is 99 percent done."

So it sounds like Burton and company have very little to finish once the strikes are resolved, but that doesn't include post-production and any pickups or reshoots, ADR, etc., that they might need. It isn't about just getting that last day and a half done; it's about everything that needs that has to happen to finish the film. We hope studios like Warner Bros. Discovery will start paying writers and actors livable wages soon so production can wrap up.

Beetlejuice 2 Becomes A Reality [Finally]

At one point, during the Warner Bros. presentation at CinemaCon, a whole bunch of logos for movies that were coming out well after 2023 were shown. This is very common and sometimes can be a soft launch for movies that are 90% greenlit, but they are just waiting for the ink to dry on the final contract. Two of the films that showed up included a fourth entry in The Conjuring franchise and a sequel to Beetlejuice. There have been false starts for a Beetlejuice 2 for years, but it seems that this might not be one of those. On May 9th, it was announced that Beetlejuice 2 had snagged a September 6th, 2024, release date. Michael Keaton is set to return to the title role, new goth queen Jenna Ortega has been cast as the daughter of Lydia Deetz, played by Winona Ryder in the 1988 original, and Justin Theroux has also joined the cast in an unknown role. On May 11th, we learned that Monica Bellucci was in talks to join the cast, with Tim Burton returning to direct and Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara also returning. Willem Dafoe also joined the cast. At the moment, we don't have any story details, and despite the delays due to the strike, no one has announced any release date delays yet, but that could change.

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