Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has finally arrived. The long-anticipated sequel is in theaters, and the critical reception has been mostly positive (you can check our review here). The consensus is that it takes the crux of the original film and deepens it while still providing plenty of outlandish fun.
There's a timeline, however, where the sequel is not only different, but was released several decades earlier. The success of the first Beetlejuice was not lost on Warner Bros, and they pushed to make a sequel as soon as possible. Tim Burton was commissioned to make a sequel script as early as 1990.
Tim Burton planned to set the sequel in Hawaii
The sequel, tentatively titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, would have seen the Deetz family relocate to the titular island state in the hopes of launching a resort. The family quickly discovers, however, that the resort is built on a burial ground, and predictably spooky happenings result.
Jonathan Gems, the man Burton hired to write the screenplay, told Fangoria that the director was tickled by the concept of setting the German Expressionist style of Beetlejuice against the setting of bright and sunny Hawaii. "They're totally wrong together," Gems quipped.
Unfortunately, the talent involved with Beetlejuice became enormously busy in the wake of the first film's success. Tim Burton would go on to direct Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and Batman Returns (1992) in quick succession.
The screenplay was eventually abandoned in 1996
Warner Bros couldn't even attempt to bring Beetlejuice's stars back together with a different director, because Winona Ryder and Micheal Keaton were busy working on Burton's other films. There was still a push for Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian as late as 1996, which we know because Kevin Smith almost did a rewrite on the script.
Burton and Smith decided to ditch the Beetlejuice sequel to work on another film that never saw the light of day, Superman Lives. It would have been lots of fun to see Burton and the cast reunite so soon after the original film, but getting classics like Batman and Edward Scissorhands feels like more than a fair trade off. Especially since we finally have a Beetlejuice sequel.