Tim Burton Comments on BEETLEJUICE Musical: 'I Got P*ssed'
The hit musical is based on Burton's 1988 movie of the same name.
By: Josh Sharpe Jul. 23, 2025
Tim Burton, renowned director of such films as Edward Scissorhands, Batman, and Beetlejuice, recently commented on the hit musical version of Beetlejuice, which premiered on Broadway in 2018.
For an in-depth feature with The Hollywood Reporter about the upcoming second season of Wednesday, the director shared his feelings about the creation of the musical, which was made without his involvement. "I feel very proprietary about everything I do, even if I don’t own the characters," he explained. "When they did the [Beetlejuice Broadway musical], I got pissed."
The filmmaker didn't speak further about the musical- either its development or the final product- though he commented on the 2024 sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and a possible third movie in the popular franchise. "It took 35 years to make the second one, so by that time I’ll be 105. I know those odds are not good. I really, really enjoyed making this one, and [Warner Bros.] didn’t even really want to do it.... I love the characters, but I don’t necessarily see it," he said of a future Beetlejuice installment.
Directed by Burton and distributed by Warner Bros., the first Beetlejuice film revolved around a recently deceased young couple who become ghosts haunting their former home and an obnoxious, devious "bio-exorcist" named Beetlejuice from the underworld who tries to scare away the new inhabitants permanently.
The stage adaptation of Beetlejuice had a history-making run on Broadway. Following the release of the musical's original Broadway cast recording and Tony Awards appearance, the box office exploded, making the show the surprise hit of the 2018/2019 season.
Last year, BroadwayWorld reported that "Say My Name," a number sung by Beetlejuice, Lydia, Barbara, and Adam on the cast album, reached No. 46 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50. The popularity of the song was attributed to the then-recent release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
The show played 366 performances at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway before being shuttered with the rest of Broadway on March 12, 2020. It then re-opened at the Marquis Theatre in 2022, where it continued to play 313 regular performances, for a total of 679 Broadway performances. The production is currently on a U.S. national tour.
In addition to Beetlejuice, Tim Burton's other projects include the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Big Fish, and the animated musicals The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. He is also a director on Season 2 of Wednesday, which debuts on Netflix in August. Take a look at BroadwayWorld's guide to Tim Burton's connections to Broadway here.
