Winona Ryder Discusses Her Possible Involvement With 'Beetlejuice 2'

Courtesy: Beetlejuice wikia

It was recently announced that after 27 years, Tim Burton would be returning to direct "Beetlejuice 2." Michael Keaton has confirmed his involvement, but what about the film's heroine, Lydia Deetz? Well, it looks like Winona Ryder may be returning as well!

In an interview with the Daily Beast, Ryder stated that "I'm kind of sworn to secrecy, but it sounds like it might be happening."

After the news of the sequel hit, a lot of fans took to the internet to voice their displeasure. "It's a very precious movie to people, so there are a lot of people like, DON'T." Ryder said, regarding the backlash.

After hearing that Seth Grahame-Smith ("Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," "Dark Shadows") had written a script based decades after the original had taken place, Ryder said that her interest was piqued.

She revealed, "It's not a sequel, it's 27 years later. And I have to say, I love Lydia so much. She was such a huge part of me. I would be really interested in what she is doing 27 years later."

Ryder also revealed that had Burton and Keaton not been attached to the sequel, she wouldn't have passed on the project as well, stating "I would never go near a sequel if it was not Tim and Michael. Because those guys, I love."

The 1988 film grossed over $73 million dollars, won an Academy Award for best makeup and skyrocketed Burton, Keaton and Ryder to the top of Hollywood's A-List.

-Nowal Massari

Tim Burton in Talks to Direct 'Beetlejuice 2'

Courtesy: Beetlejuice wikia

The internet is abuzz with news of Tim Burton returning to direct a sequel his 1988 classic, "Beetlejuice." Rumors have been swirling for years now, "Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian" amongst them, however in 2012 the rumors were laid to rest when producers/script writers Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg confirmed that they were working with Warner Brothers to bring "the ghost with the most" back to the big-screen.

While nothing is officially official, Burton is in talks to take the helm. It's been no secret that the zany director has toyed with the idea of a sequel, but now it appears that he has moved from a flirtation with the thought to taking some action. The Geffen Company will be returning to produce the new installment along with KatzSmith Productions. With Michael Keaton's career on an upswing, recently starring in the "RoboCop" remake, it's quite possible that he could return to his 25-year-old role.

Unsurprisingly, there are already detractors to the idea of Beetlejuice's resurrection, and checking Burton's recent work, it's not difficult to see why. Most people are expecting/fearing another Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham-Carter festival ...

"It'll be Helena Bonham Carter as the Bride of Beetlejuice or something."-A. Rosko

"If Johnny Depp shows up as Beetlejuice's equally zany cousin Spidermilk or some such, so help me god..."-J. Graff

"Fun Fact: This movie will literally use your love against you."-N. Ayling

We here at Paranormal Pop Culture will reserve judgement until there is more news on the project and can't wait to hear what's next. Now, if you'll excuse us, it's showtime...

-Nowal Massari

Tim Burton talks 'Beetlejuice 2'

In an interview with MTV.com, Tim Burton - currently directing Dark Shadows and producing Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - spilled this bit of info about a long-rumored sequel to the 1988 comedy classic Beetlejuice (which starred Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis and Winona Ryder):

"Yes. I love that character, and Michael [Keaton] is so great in it ... I always think about how great and fun that character was, so I just said to [Vampire Hunter writer] Seth [Grahame-Smith], 'If you have some idea about it, go for it, and then I'll look at it freshly.' In the past, I tried some things, but that was way back when. He seemed really excited about it."

MTV goes on to report that no specific plot details have been developed yet, but that he, "told him to try some stuff, but he hasn't come back to me yet. Michael was so great in it. I'm sure he'd strangely tap right back into it."

In October 2011, Grahame-Smith (who also co-wrote the screenplay for Burton's Dark Shadows) told Entertainment Weekly he'd only do the sequel if it was a true sequel with Keaton returning, and that he envisioned it as continuing the story 26 years later.

As far as Michael Keaton's take on it, he told MovieHole in 2010 that he'd love to return to the role of the ghost with the most. "Oh I’d do that in a heartbeat. Absolutely, that’s the one thing I’d love to do again. That’s the only one I’d love to do."

An abandoned Beetlejuice sequel from the '90s actually exists in the "what if?" files of Hollywood. The plot had Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones) moving the family to Hawaii and building a resort on a burial ground, and Betelgeuse taking part in a surfing competition.

Tim Burton, ghost believer: 'I've seen things'

Alice in Wonderland director and auteur of the often absurd, Tim Burton, says he believes in ghosts, and has had his own encounters.

In an Interview Magazine Q&A conducted by friend and composer Danny Elfman (he of the paranormal pop culture band Oingo Boingo), Burton says, "I’ve seen things and felt things. I think most people do. I think it’s just how much you suppress it."

For a director whose subject matter has already involved the paranormal, as with Beetlejuice, The Corpse Bride and Sleepy Hollow, this news isn't entirely surprising. Yet Burton goes on to say that while he doesn't come right out and exclaim, "'Oh, my god, I was abducted by a UFO,' or 'I’ve seen these ghosts'," he does feel their energies - as with "certain hotel rooms in Venice."

He and Elfman also discuss hanging out in graveyards - which the director describes as positive and celebratory - and a time when the pair worked together in a studio supposedly haunted by a child spirit.

The entire interview is a candid conversation between long-time friends and pop-culture icons, and this particular passage is a straightforward, honest discussion about the paranormal.