Summary
- Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian
featured the titular character in a surfing contest, battling love potions and dinosaur skeletons. - A sequel was shelved as Burton’s projects took precedence over Beetlejuice, which was deemed too risky despite its potential success.
- After almost 40 years,
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
finally returns with an $80 million+ projected opening weekend.
As a film enthusiast who has been following the twists and turns of Hollywood for decades, I can’t help but feel a pang of nostalgia when I reflect on the missed opportunity that was “Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian.” Having grown up in the ’80s, I remember the excitement surrounding Beetlejuice and the anticipation for a sequel. The idea of our favorite bio-exorcist causing chaos in the Aloha State was almost too good to be true.
After nearly four decades, the iconic Ghost with the Largest Impact is making a comeback! Even though it’s universally accepted that “Beetlejuice” stands among the finest horror comedies ever made, launching director Tim Burton and star Michael Keaton to stardom, a sequel always appeared to be just beyond grasp. However, this year, the quirky titled “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is set to grace the big screen on September 6, following years of limbo in development purgatory.
During those years, multiple unique concepts for a Beetlejuice sequel surfaced, with each idea becoming increasingly bizarre. As Burton shared, these proposals encompassed Beetlejuice teaming up with Disney’s Haunted Mansion or embarking on a Wild West journey. However, none of these ideas were as outlandish as the one that nearly materialized. In 1990, prior to Warner Bros. urging Burton and Keaton to concentrate on a sequel for their blockbuster hit Batman, they had their sights set on the iconic bio-exorcist swapping his attire for swim trunks and jetting off to Hawaii.
What Happened in Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian?
Luckily, for those intrigued about how “Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian” might have unfolded, an early draft of the script can be found online. The story would’ve continued from where it left off in the original, with Beetlejuice stuck in Hell and still nursing romantic feelings for Lydia Deetz, the young girl. Besides having to cope with a new girlfriend he dislikes, he also lost his bio-exorcist license and was compelled to work at an underworld supermarket.
In my world of cinema passion, I find myself immersed in the tale of the Deetz family. Leaving their old life behind, they’ve now settled in the enchanting Hawaii, where Charles is engaged in a project to construct an opulent island resort and casino.
The surfers get arrested for kidnapping Charles, and to bail them out, Lydia journeys to the Netherworld and enlists Beetlejuice’s help in saving her new friends. However, as is expected when the Ghost with the Most becomes involved, things quickly go awry as he becomes jealous of Lydia’s crush on Kino, one of the surfer boys. In the middle act of the film, he faces off against Kino in a surfing contest before giving Lydia a love potion to make her fall in love with him. It’s safe to say he would’ve been given substantially more screen time than his 17 minutes in the original.
In another development, someone purporting to be Beetlejuice’s mom steps in and rescues Lydia from the enchantment. Enraged by this turn of events, Beetlejuice vows revenge, conjuring colossal skeletons of dinosaurs and haunted tiki statues to wreak havoc on the island, causing the resort to be demolished in the chaos. However, our heroes manage to send Beetlejuice back to the Netherworld, where he encounters a twist of fate when he unintentionally consumes the love potion and finds himself smitten with Rita, who was the recipient in the initial scene.
Why Was Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian Never Made?
In the early 1990s, Tim Burton recruited Jonathan Gems, who had previously worked on ‘Batman’ and later penned ‘Mars Attacks!’, to write a screenplay titled ‘Beetlejuice in Hawaii’. The script, accessible online, lacks a specific date but it is said that the idea for this film was conceived as early as 1990. At this time, a sequel to ‘Beetlejuice’ appeared promising, considering an animated spin-off series was enjoying decent viewership and a brief run, and there were multiple video game adaptations, all of which enjoyed at least moderate success.
Despite the promising prospects of Beetlejuice becoming a major franchise, it was soon eclipsed by Tim Burton’s next project, Batman. In the early ’90s, Batman exploded into popular culture, and although Burton and Keaton were eager to proceed with a Beetlejuice sequel, Warner Bros. urged them to prioritize Batman instead. Even after the release of Batman Returns, Burton continued his efforts to revive Beetlejuice, enlisting Saturday Night Live writer Pamela Norris to rewrite Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian.
Despite Kevin Smith being given a chance with Burton’s script in 1996, he declined it, opting instead for an unrealized “Superman Lives” project. The prospect of this film coming to life appeared bleak by the following year. In an interview, Jonathan Gems expressed that the project was no longer feasible due to Winona Ryder being too old for the role, and the only viable option would be a complete recast. One reason why this concept never materialized is because Tim Burton was primarily occupied with other ventures throughout the ’90s, particularly his success with Batman.
Despite the opportunity for him to dedicate time to it, Warner Bros. found Burton’s idea of blending German Expressionism with the ’60s beach movie genre too risky and unconventional. Given his status as a rising filmmaker and the mixed reception to some of his earlier projects, such as Ed Wood’s poor box office performance despite critical acclaim, and Batman Returns’ financial success but divisive tone among mainstream audiences, Warner Bros. opted against backing another high-risk project that seemed likely to divide people. Thus, Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian was put aside without further development.
Beetlejuice Finally Returns to the Big Screen
Yet it was foolish to completely count on Burton giving up on his first franchise, and after almost four decades, a Beetlejuice sequel is finally seeing the light of day next month. Considering how prominent ‘80s nostalgia has been over the last decade, it seems likelier to be a big hit today than it did 30 years ago, and indeed, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is projected to have a monstrous $80 million plus opening weekend.
It’s a pity that we didn’t get to witness the title character creating chaos at a Hawaiian luau or surfing competition, but unfortunately, it appears that this intriguing blockbuster will forever remain an unrealized dream. Beetlejuice returns to theaters on September 6.
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2024-08-25 22:01