It’s been a while since I’ve posted due to being stuck at work and doing that real life thing. In fact I am at work right now… but that’s besides the point. The point is something so attrocious has been building up in me. We all hate most remakes, anyone who is a true film fan does. I’ve come to accept that Hollywood runs out of original ideas on a regular basis and has to go back to the well.

For every 300 there is a Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), for every Grindhouse there is a Hitcher… that’s fine. They will be remaking films until the end of time. It’s a hard thing to accept but I do accept it. However… pointless sequels… they have a whole other air about them that rubs me the wrong way. I mostly ignored these until very recently. As I was parusing one of my favorite websites of all time, Dread Central, a wave of hate flowed over me like a downpoor of blood from the sky; a good idea in concept that will completely fall apart and die as you read this article below:

Fans who have been waiting for someone to finally get off their asses and make a sequel to Beetlejuice can rest a bit easier tonight; word has come down that one is finally in the works over at Warner’s home video line. The rest of us can be left to wonder why.

Moviehole got a press release from the Warner Australia arm indicating some new direct-to-DVD sequels being planned for the near future and Beetlejuice was the most interesting of the bunch. Michael Keaton will likely not be back, Tim Burton will not be directing, but somehow they’ll continue on with the story of the Ghost With the Most.

I just hope it’s not the damn Beetlejuice Goes to Hawaii story they were discussing a few years back; that just sounded lame as hell. We’ll do some digging and see what more we can find out about the sequel, but you can also look forward to new sequels for Under Siege, Space Jam, Training Day and Dark Castle movies to go in front of cameras this year, as well.

Now why does this bother me so much? The chances of Michael Keaton reprising the role are pretty much next to nothing, especially because they are DTV releases. This also means the budget will be nil and some random unknown director will be trying to copy Tim Burtons style. Even the cartoon was a great show that still kept the feel of the show, while changing the format slightly to make Beetlejuice more kid friendly. It worked because it felt natural, that after his great defeat at the hands of Lydia Dietz that he would just want to become friends and hope that someday he could escape the afterlife.

It was a fun show that had a lot going for it… during its life on Nick and subsequent afterlife on Cartoon Network; it seemed that it was a fitting end to the character overall… but now… NOW they want to do DTV sequels?! WTF?! Why not do them sooner — get Michael Keaton back! He *IS* Beetlejuice. His manic crazy, yet charming ways were what made the movie the classic it is today… please just stop, no one wants to see a shitty DTV sequel to Beetlejuice… Nobody.

1. Can it bee true? An actual post by Steve-O?

   Posted by gumbylove | May 3, 2007, 2:42 pm