Tim Burton’s long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is off to a rip-roaring start at the domestic box as if no time had passed between now and when the first film graced the big screen 36 years ago.
From Warner Bros., the first event pic of the fall season topped Friday’s chart with $41.5 million, including $13 million in previews. The studio is projecting a $97 million opening, but rival studios show Beetlejuice Beetlejuice earning $102 million-plus, in line with prerelease tracking.
The comedy-horror movie is on course to deliver the second-biggest September opening of all time behind fellow Warners’ R-rated blockbuster It ($123 million), not adjusted for inflation.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice sees the return of Michael Keaton as the ghoulish prankster, alongside Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara. Franchise newcomers include Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti and Willem Dafoe. This time around, Lydia Deetz (Ryder) and her family return home after a tragedy only to find that her daughter, Astrid (Ortega), has opened a portal to the afterlife. (The teaser trailer appropriately features Keaton declaring to an astonished Ryder, “The Juice is loose.”)
The movie is winning over all age groups and families, a testament to the first film’s cult classic status. It’s skewing female by anywhere from 54 percent to 58 percent and is playing well in all parts of the country. More than a third of the gross is coming from Imax and other large-format screens. Another boost: Hispanic consumers, who are the most frequent moviegoers.
The sequel received a B+ CinemaScore, on par with a fresh Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 76 percent and a notch up from the B CinemaScore given to the original Beetlejuice. (It isn’t uncommon for horror films or titles with horror elements to land lower CinemaScore grades.)
“Tapping into the maniacally playful spirit of one of his enduring golden-era hits, the director seems reinvigorated. He serves up comparable tonic as well for two actors who were a big part not just of the original Beetlejuice but also of Burton’s Batman movies and Edward Scissorhands: Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, respectively,” writes The Hollywood Reporter chief film critic David Rooney in his review.
As of now, the second-biggest September opening belongs to 2019’s It Chapter Two ($91.1 million), followed by Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($75.4 million), which was released amid the pandemic in 2021. After that, the next biggest September opening is in the mid-$50 million range.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice cost a reported $100 million to make before a major marketing spend that included staging the movie’s world premiere at the glitzy Venice Film Festival.
Burton directed the sequel from a script by Wednesday showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, with Seth Grahame-Smith credited for his work on the film’s story.
The first Beetlejuice grossed $74 million at the domestic box office — a huge sum at the time — or more than $195 million when adjusted for inflation.
No other major studio film dared open opposite Beetlejuice 2, which is playing in 4,575 locations. The only other new wide offering is indie distributor A24’s psychological horror pic The Front Room, which is failing to find its groove and may have trouble opening to much more than $1.4 million to $1.5 million from 2,095 locations.
Back at the top of the chart, Deadpool & Wolverine is set to come in second, followed by Reagan, Alien: Romulus and It Ends With Us.
Estimates will be updated Sunday morning.
