Box Office: ‘Beetlejuice 2’ Makes $13 Million in Previews
A lot of people must be saying his name three times, because Beetlejuice is taking over the box office.
The long awaited sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega, has made $13 million at the box office so far in Thursday previews.
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The horror comedy is ready to take over the box office, after a slow end to August, with an estimated $100 million to $110 million opening this weekend. That’s a scary good debut, since the film carries a production budget of $100 million. However, Warner Bros. is predicting a softer opening around $90 million — but many box office experts are predicting it’ll cross the $100 million mark. The film could even land among the biggest opening weekends ever for the month of September, putting Beetlejuice shoulder to shoulder with Pennywise the Clown in 2017’s “It” ($123 million opening) and 2019’s “It: Chapter 2” ($91 million).
Michael Keaton’s undead ghoul returns, after first scaring screens back in 1988 with Burton’s horror cult classic “Beetlejuice.” The original movie grossed $75 million off a $15 million budget, and it was the 10th highest-grossing movie of the year. It won the Academy Award for best makeup, spawned a Tony-nominated Broadway musical, an animated series and more.
Keaton, Ryder’s Lydia Deetz and Catherine O’Hara’s Delia Deetz return in “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” with “Wednesday” and “Scream” star Ortega as Lydia’s daughter Astrid. Fellow newcomers to the series include Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe and Monica Bellucci. Taking place 36 years after the first movie, Lydia is now hosting a supernatural talk show but sees visions of Beetlejuice. When a portal to the afterlife opens up and Beetlejuice returns, the Deetzes must work together to prevent supernatural chaos from breaking out.
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