This past weekend, Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice,” once again, dominated the box office. There’s no denying that the film is a runaway success for all involved. But apparently, that wasn’t something folks at the studio felt was a guarantee.
As seen in a recent report from The New York Times, Warner Bros. didn’t always have confidence in Tim Burton’s sequel, “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.” This lack of confidence went so far that WB once discussed turning the film into a streaming-only release. This was before the film studio gained Michael DeLuca and Pamela Abdy as co-chairs. With those two running the show, there was a discussion with Burton about budgeting the film. And with this discussion, there was a deal that was made because the filmmaker didn’t want this film to go to streaming.
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“That was never going to work for Tim,” Abdy said. “You’re talking about a visionary artist whose films demand to be seen on a big screen.”
The deal that was struck had to do with bringing the budget down. Originally, the film was budgeted to cost approximately $147 million. However, Abdy and DeLuca told Burton that the film would be guaranteed to hit theaters if the budget could be brought in under $100 million.
To reach that goal, the producers worked out deals with the major stars, Jenna Ortega, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara, that would have them taking less money up front and more on the back end. And with the deals in place, the budget was brought down to an acceptable number and the rest is history.
It’s wild to think that WB would have originally sent this film to streaming instead of a full theatrical release. Obviously, when you take into consideration the box office haul after 10 days, it would have been foolish of the studio to throw away that money. Thankfully, for film fans and the folks with back end deals, the film got its theatrical release.
“Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice” is in theaters now.