In a bizarre twist of fate, it has been revealed that Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice sequel, which is now dominating movie theatres, almost went straight to streaming. That's right, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice almost skipped a theatrical release altogether to premiere on popular US streaming site Max under Warner Bros.' previous regime, according to The New York Times .
However, the plan changed when the movie was officially greenlit by Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. "That was never going to work for Tim," Abdy told NYT, "You're talking about a visionary artist whose films demand to be seen on a big screen.
" The reason for the studio wanting to send the sequel straight to streaming is unknown but it seems as though the studio was nervous about Burton’s proposed $147 million budget and the fact the filmmaker hadn't huge box office hit since Disney 's live-action Alice in Wonderland in 2010. In the end, Warner Bros. agreed to a major theatrical release, that is if the budget was under $100 million – and Beetlejuice 2 just so happened to cost $99 million.
Alas, Beetlejuice’s theatrical release was the right call as the sequel has topped expectations reaching over $264 million so far globally since opening on September 6. Moreover, it has broken box office records by having the biggest second weekend in September since the pandemic and the second-highest after IT in 2017, as per Variety . This is exactly what Warner Bros.
needs.