Michael Keaton Interested in Beetlejuice 2

Late last year, we first heard that David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith signed a 2-year production deal with Warner Bros. One of the projects on their plate is a new Beetlejuice movie, which is said to reboot the franchise by advancing the storyline of the original.

It has previously been mentioned that Seth Grahame-Smith only wanted to move forward with the project if Michael Keaton was on board. While chatting with Shock Till You Drop, Grahame-Smith mentioned that he's been talking with Michael Keaton and describes Keaton's excitement level as "Huge":

"...he's been wanting to do it for 20 years and he'll talk to anybody about it who will listen. I really told him, I have a huge reverence for Tim and a huge reverence for that film in general. I don't think we should do it if we shit on the legacy. He agrees. So, right now, it remains to be seen, I have a couple of story ideas, but we're very early out."

From comments in the rest of the interview, it doesn't sound like we'll see this project in the very near future. However, at least fans know Michael Keaton is interested in returning and the role won't be recast. Here are additional comments from Grahame-Smith back in October, talking about keeping a sequel true to the original:

“When Warner Bros. came to us about it, we said the only way we’d do it if we got Tim [Burton’s] blessing and involvement, and we got that, and the star of the movie has to be Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, and it’s a true continuation 26 years later. Not just throwing him in as a cameo going, ‘Hey, it’s me. I endorse this movie.’ We’re not there yet [with Keaton] because we don’t have a film to present to him.”