Obviously, the character didn't turn out the way that McDowell and Wilson originally conceived and we saw the bio-exorcist ghost morph into more of a used car salesman. Fox Searchlight. When you see [the movie], you understand probably why it was hard for him to explain, Keaton said of the beloved horror-comedy about ghosts and the obnoxious poltergeist, Beetlejuice. 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Movies (Rank 301-400), 8.52 (domestic box office/biggest weekend), $15,000,000 (worldwide box office is 5.0 times production budget), 1,000 opening theaters/1,582 max. A passage from Tim Burton: A Childs Garden of Nightmares - a biography about the filmmaker penned by Paul A. Betelgeuse is a crazy whirlwind that sweeps up the audience and co-stars alike, and behind all that elaborate makeup Keaton delivers a truly unforgettable 17 minutes of screentime. However, the screenwriter claims the script originally ended with Lydia perishing in a fire to spend the afterlife with Barbara and Adam, until others convinced them that such an ending might send the wrong message to younger audiences. "Tim [Burton] led us to do a movie that really worked. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Scene Stealers: Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice. He also tries to coerce Lydia (Winona Ryder) into marrying him. So was his niece named after Hadley Hemingway, I manage to ask. Can he even remember any of that presumably pretty overwhelming decade? In the film Beetlejuice, Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin make the title character appear by saying his name three times but makeup artist Ve Neill had to do it the hard way. When Keaton was last year added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Sean gave the speech: Ive seen everything from Batman to bath time when I was a young kid. In an interview with Coming Soon, Keaton revealed how he improvised many of his lines in his first feature film. But when he was approached with the script, he wasn't sure about jumping on board. Juliette Lewis was almost Lydia instead of Winona Ryder! Yes, we're being completely serious about this plot. You see, a lot of a film's marketability is in its title, so the studio wanted to make sure it was just right and didn't think Beetlejuice was catchy enough. Heres the amazing part about it: He never saw any of it. A Lighter and Brighter Approach That Failed Aside from Beetlejuice's name the Maitlands also say the word "home" three times to escape Beetlejuice, and it's the number of times they knock on the door to get to the After Life. Following his star-making turn in 1982 comedy Night Shift, the actor popped up in hits like Mr. They love it so much, in fact, that when they die just 10 minutes into the film in a sudden car accident, their main purpose becomes to successfully haunt the house and rid it of its uncaring, obnoxious new owners. So I showed up for work and I walked on the stage and said, This is either going to be way off the mark, or hes going to I dont know what hes going to do.. Did he ever tell him that he stole his name? That would have been an experience.. It was both, he says. I said, Give me the night or two days and I called the wardrobe department at the studio and said, Send me a bunch of wardrobes from different time periods, randomly. Michael Keaton is signed on to star in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice sequel . Michael Keaton had no clue what director Tim Burton was talking about when he was pitched Beetlejuice, so he turned it down several times. I thought my, all of our, careers are going to end with the release of this film. One definitive example of this is the famous Day-O scene, which was apparently a more complex and problem-ridden process than you might have expected. Initially, Keaton thought about going into comedy rather than acting, and you can still find some of his very funny standup routines online. Since then, on the back of a major cult following for the film, fans have clamored to get a . "Beetlejuice" was a hit during its original release which of course led to merchandise like toys, and a cartoon continuing the adventures of Beetlejuice and Lydia: The animated series proved so successful that it aired on ABC Saturday mornings, while also airing on Fox weekday afternoons, for two seasons. As such, it often takes a little bit of persuasion to convince these actors that a project is worth their time. Just that make up job still gives us nightmares.. brod and taylor proofer recipes / can you film inside a post office / can you film inside a post office ago. Beetlejuice as played by Sammy Davis Jr.? But despite the fact that the Maitlands died by drowning, they appear dry in the netherworld. I said, I wish I could do it. Theres me taking a pause: I really like life, doing things, having a normal life. As the actor recalled to Charlie Rose during a 2014 interview, he actually had a lot to do with the creation of Betelgeuse (as his name is actually spelled in the film). As The Playlist noted earlier this year, the original script included more gruesome violence and presented Michael Keaton's title character in this way: "He was envisioned as leather-winged demon whose humanoid form is that of a squat Middle Eastern man (subsequent drafts had him talking in a kind of African American pidgin dialect).". If you want to see Beetlejuice in the flesh, book a flight to Universal Studios, where Beetlejuice's Rock And Roll Graveyard Revue has been playing since 1992. The man truly is full of surprises. I suppose you could say that's the thing I'm most proud of.". In Birdman, he plays an actor so neurotic, he ends up running through Manhattan in his underwear. Before deciding on Michael Keaton, the producers considered Bill Murray, Jack Nicholson, Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd, and Dudley Moore. A publicist comes in to tell us our time is up, but he waves her away. This article was corrected on 11 September 2017. 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition . His family visited him, and there have been girlfriends (he is in a relationship now, but its the one subject he refuses to discuss), but in the main he was on his own. Michael Keaton, Brat Pack fan? Shadix had been extremely proud of Beetlejuice, saying in a 2008 interview that was posted on his website, "We had so much fun filming this unusual and so very original movie that I had a feeling something very special was happening.". Michael Keaton made an icon out of the title character with less than 20 minutes of screen time. Im so proud to be your son. Maybe the name just had a nice ring to it? Beetlejuice is arguably Michael Keaton's best performance of his career & definitely his most unforgettable. . In his breakthrough movie, 1983s Mr Mom, Keaton played a stay-at-home father at a time when such a concept was almost unheard of, and he played him as a man who has no idea how to do any of the stereotypically masculine jobs around the house; when asked if hes rewiring the house with 220 volts, Keaton adlibbed, 220, 221, whatever it takes. February 24, 2022 . Keaton played the editor of the Boston Globes investigative journalism team in the 2015 movie Spotlight, not the editor of the paper itself, as originally stated. How much did Michael Keaton make for Beetlejuice? Larry Wilson also spoke to Yahoo! However, the March 2023 report has now been confirmed as a complete hoax, the actor best known for his roles in Birdman, Batman or Beetlejuice is alive and well. In the Day-O sequence, Charles Deetz and his wife, Delia, are having her agent, Bernard (Dick Cavett) and his wife, Grace (Susan Kellerman) over for dinner, at which point Adam and Barbara Maitland decide to enact a plan to frighten them out of the house that does not go exactly as planned. Michael Keaton : Betelgeuse (Beetlejuice) Supporting Cast. In the much darker original script, Betelgeuse wanted to sexually assault Lydia instead of marrying her. Even though the movie is called "Beetlejuice," the character only has 17 minutes of screen time out of a 92-minute running time. NEXT:Wait 'Til They Get A Load Of Me: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Tim Burton's Batman Movies. And in 1992 he got a big raise, receiving $10 million for reprising his role, equating to some $20 million in today's terms. "Michael Keaton is basically an ordinary guy, a regular human being," Burton, who reunited with his Beetlejuice star, said around Batman's release. That wouldn't have been the case if producers had stuck to the original screenplay. In fact, it's probably due to these contract issues that most movie stars are reluctant to sign long-term TV deals. Hes your best friend, and hes your worst nightmare. Keatons Batman completely changed the way superheroes were portrayed in Hollywood movies, coining the reluctant, self-loathing alter ego that is still de rigueur 30 years later (Christian Bales Batman, Andrew Garfields Spider-Man, almost all of the X-Men). Betelgeuse would be the hero and save the day by winning a surfing contest. In one routine, he talks about how just a look from a stranger on the streets of New York can send him into therapy; in another, he imagines what it would be like if the cartoon strips that used to come with gum packets explored philosophical concepts. Future two-time Academy Award nominee Winona Ryder also had very little experience making films when she starred in Beetlejuice as Lydia Deetz, who initially becomes the sole seer of the Maitlands spirits when she moves into their house with her father (Jeffrey Jones) and stepmother (Schitts Creek cast member Catherine OHara). While they are trying to think deeply about how they will solve their crisis, Betelgeuse is jabbering away in the corner and distracting them as much as possible. Heck, you only need to look at why Keaton dropped out of Batman Forever, saying the script was terrible and he just wasn't interested. He was paid $5 million for his titular role as Batman. The filmmakers first choice for OHaras role, Delia, was Kirstie Alley, but the producers of her show Cheers wouldnt give her the time off. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Mr. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, The actor gained enthusiasm for the character when he first arrived on the set in costume and the crew chanted, Juice! All his good work, however, came crashing down in 2002 after he was nabbed for possession of illegal photos and the solicitation of a 14-year-old boy to pose for them. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Beetlejuice DVD (1999) Michael Keaton- Burton (DIR) cert 15 at the best online prices at eBay! Michael Keaton improvised many of his lines throughout the film. Look, its not like I dont think about the business I am cognisant of that side of things but if you overthink the money part, you tend to mess it up. Michael Keaton's career slowed down in the early 2000s In the 1980s, Keaton was everywhere. Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter. Rumours of a Beetlejuice sequel have circulated ever since the original film was released in 1988. A perfectly enormous gear comes barreling toward him. Sean Douglas is now a Grammy award-nominated songwriter who has worked with Madonna and Demi Lovato, and who is routinely referred to as Michael Keatons hot son. And he did it a bunch of times: Brotherhood! And then someone explained it to me and I was like, Ohhhhh! I mean, I think Id forgotten he was in [Batman].. They may be dead, they may pull bizarre pranks to frighten off unwelcome visitors, but they are at heart just a sweet, ordinary couple. Burton ended up defining his zany gothic visual style when he directed the film. Michael Keaton. It's based on the Betelgeuse star which is housed in the Orion constellation and is the ninth brightest star in the night sky. All Rights Reserved. Wilson was replaced by Warren Skaaren later on, in an effort to make the script more accessible and comedic. Looking back, it seems like a perfect casting as Ryder has become synonymous with Lydia. Please refresh the page and try again. And it takes a lot of stumbling around, and it takes discipline.. Warner Bros. executives didn't like the name Beetlejuice and pushed to have it changed to House Ghosts. Burton apparently wanted the character to appear as though he had lived in every time period, but to be from no specific period at all. In addition to the beatnicks, a band of ancient Hawaiian ghosts are none to pleased about the hotel; they try to recruit Beetlejuice to frighten away Deetz and his developers, but he declines because his license to scare has been revoked. In a wide-ranging conversation about his career and his new film, "Birdman," Michael Keaton talked to Charlie Rose about working with Tim Burton on the class. After becoming known for his hyper-comedic performances in the early 80s, Keaton switched to dramatic roles first as a recovering drug addict in Clean And Sober (a flop) and then as Batman (one of the biggest box office hits of its day). See the Box Office tab (Domestic) and International tab (International and Worldwide) for more Cumulative Box Office Records. As he's about to be crushed, he's suddenly jerked up to safety. Catherine OHara met her future husband, production designer Bo Welch, on the set of Beetlejuice. Sadly, she wasn't able to take the role because the show's producers wouldn't let her out of her contract. That said, it couldn't have been easy to nail a look like that of Beetlejuice, and in a 2014 interview with Charlie Rose, Michael Keaton shared more about what that process looked like. "Barb, honey we're dead. So, here are 10 fascinating behind-the-scenes facts from the making of Beetlejuice. The studio thought he was serious and considered it. Presumably thats because he had to fight for space, whereas Sean was an only child and happy to fill the house with friends? Jeffrey Jones built up quite an extensive career for himself, acting in movies such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Crucible, Stuart Little, and Beetlejuice. He dated Courteney Cox, and Michelle Pfeiffer, but never married again. And they were: Burtons first Batman film remains one of the most interesting big-budget movies ever made, with Keatons psychologically subtle performance a major part of that. October 16, 2014 / 12:33 PM / CBS NEWS. Luckily, David Geffen, who was overseeing the development of the film at Warner Bros, suggested Keaton, who eventually won the role. Not giving up, though, Burton flew out to meet and convince her about the part. Oh no, I just think her mom liked the name, he says, and hes off again, talking about everything from whether or not hes a liberal (he is, mostly) to why climate change shouldnt be politicised. Keaton put in just two weeks of work and created a classic performance. Delia Deetz (Catherine O'Hara) was almost played by Anjelica Huston! With a lot of ad-libbing involved, Keaton seems to be on a different wavelength to Baldwin and Davis entirely, which works incredibly well. While it does seem like the cast and crew had a whale of a time on set, it wasn't all roses and sunshine. For this piece, let's take a closer look at. A year before he first donned the cape in Batman, this is truly Keaton at his wildest. However, she wasn't the first choice for Barbara. Huh? LOUD TICKING. While we can't imagine anyone else but Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse nowadays, Tim Burton originally wanted someone else for the part: the legendary Rat Pack member Sammy Davis Jr. I think she understands me." Beetlejuice. Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day, Get the scoops first! how much did michael keaton make for beetlejuice. You also get away with more, because by that point your parents are like, Whos that again? Did they swap bat tales? Neither actor is in the game for the money and tend to choose movies that interest them. A change., I dont get the impression its a change hell necessarily repeat. Michael Keaton originally starred in the titular role (Betelguese) way back in 1988. Beetlejuice was a critical and commercial success, grossing US$74.7 million from a budget of US$15 million. The song by Harry Belafonte used during the dinner party possession scene is one of the most memorable moments in the movie: But viewers can also faintly hear film composer Danny Elfman singing "Day-O" in the opening credit sequence when the Geffen logo appears (Elfman's vocals were added during post-production): Also, when Glenn Shadix who played Otho, passed away at the age of 58 in 2010, "Day-O" was the last song played at his memorial service. Michael Keaton For Clean and Sober: Satellite Awards 2008 Nominee Satellite Award: Best Classic DVD. What does he mean by changing things internally? "But since Tim told me to I did and then we dated and we're married and here we are today," he said. Because sales figures are estimated based on sampling, they will be more accurate for higher-selling titles. Burton, of course, loved the look of the character Keaton had created. Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin play the Maitlands, a cute, loving couple who live in a big, warm home that they dearly love. Yet his role navigates the entire film down a very weird and wonderful path, and his limited appearances are undoubtedly the highlights. Mom. I was hailed as a genius. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. "When I did Night Shift, I improvised quite a bit because I would improvise at the audition so sometimes I would return to the original lines and then when I was on set I would improvise even more," he said. how much did michael keaton make for beetlejuice. Where does it come from? How many weeks do we spend doing the same thing over and over at work and being distinctively average? One studio executive was interested in Sam Kinison, but Kinisons agent never even told him about the project. 15. How can that be? A call from my editor: "They said maybe . Michael Keaton Talks Birdman, working with Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu, Batman, Beetlejuice, Jackie Brown, Much Ado about Nothing, and more at SBIFF. It didnt evolve into a comedy until Tim Burton became attached to direct and Michael Keaton signed on to star. Beetlejuice made good money for Warner Bros. From a budget of $15 million, it brought in over $73 million and developed a rabid following. His iconic roles as Beetlejuice and Batman gave his career the proper boost to succeed today. Ever since the original was released and proved successful, Warner Bros. wanted Tim Burton to make a sequel. If you would like your comment to be considered for inclusion on Weekend magazines letters page in print, please email weekend@theguardian.com, including your name and address (not for publication). He plays an automobile executive, Jack Butler, who loses his job in the 1980s and . Beetlejuice is still rocking audiences today at the Universal Studios in Orlando and Japan, but was replaced by Spider-Man Rocks at the Universal Studios Hollywood location in 2002. At his memorial service, the final song played was "Day-O" a fitting sendoff to the gifted actor and a fan-favorite of the movie. "Beetlejuice" is one of the funniest horror films ever made. Apparently, this was at the behest of the studio execs, who felt the audience wouldn't know the snake was actually Betelgeuse and not some other random monster. Keaton was actually born Michael Douglas, but when it came to joining the actors' union he realised that name was already taken. This shouldn't come, as a surprise as Burton was renowned for casting his movies a little more differently than others. Keaton began his career as a comedic actor in sitcoms All's Fair and The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, and in film roles Night Shift, Mr. Jason has been writing since he was able to pick up a washable marker, with which he wrote his debut illustrated children's story, later transitioning to a short-lived comic book series and (very) amateur filmmaking before finally settling on pursuing a career in writing about movies in lieu of making them. It was mostly good, he says. However, there have been talks that Burton will return for a Beetlejuice sequel, along with Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder. Michael Keaton Suggested Making The Afterlife A Dreary "Unemployment Office" Setting In that same oral history for CBC Radio, which was also part of a radio show called q, hosted by Tom Power,. This concept came from the brain of Michael McDowell, who worked with Larry Wilson on the story. Keaton reels back in his chair, hands over his face. He currently resides in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, USA. Since Beetlejuice had a midsized budget, a lot of the visual effects had to be done in-camera. The dead lead lives of noisy desperation in "Beetlejuice," the absolutely exhausting new musical that opened on Thursday at the Winter Garden Theater. Everyone knows if you say Beetlejuice's name three times he appears, but the number three is used multiple times in the film. Kinda! Far from being the lead character, Betelgeuse doesn't even make an appearance until 25 minutes in. Keaton is not a straight Q&A kind of guy; his approach to conversation is a little like his eyebrows, looping in memorable and unexpected directions. Short of the Week - Describe What You Heard, On Baz Luhrmanns Romeo + Juliet and Growing Up, ORWAVs Top 20 Films of 2021: #1 Petite Maman, ORWAVS Top 20 Films of 2021: #2 The Green Knight. Really? he cries, bouncing out of his seat. However, when the subject turned to Beetlejuice during his own personal review of his career for GQ, he had this to say: When we did Beetlejuice, I had no idea what it was about. Our DVD and Blu-ray sales estimates are based on weekly retail surveys, which we use to build a weekly market share estimate for each title we are tracking. Luckily, Beetlejuice would up winning that battle, but there was another person from the Beetlejuice cast who had his own concerns about the films potential. American Assassin is released on Thursday. This is one of my favorite movies and I've thought a lot about this (but haven't done any research). Yeah, yeah. Nowadays, Keaton cites Beetlejuice as one of the most fun movies that he ever made and a favorite of his filmography. The most amazing and fascinating aspects of those sequences in the office of the afterlife from Beetlejuice is that almost everything you see was filmed live on the set. As a result of this, Keaton was only required to be on set for two weeks. Okay, maybe that last bit is a lie, but did it at least make you laugh considering that you made it this far? Swear to God! Keaton spent just two weeks shooting all of his scenes and has since called it the favorite role he's ever played. Some reports have the figure as high as 90% of his lines being ad-libbed. Its an action movie. Davis and Baldwin are the normal characters in the film, the ones youre supposed to relate to the most. Keatons crazy eyebrows are put to good use as the on-the-edge mentor, but it is a somewhat baffling choice for him: the movie is undeniably generic for an actor who has always eschewed straightforward genre. Burton's original pick for the part was Cheers star Kirstie Alley. Hadley, huh? O'Hara was immediately on board after meeting with the director. Actor Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) commands the world with a snap of his fingers in the . Considering the movie is named after his character, Michael Keaton has a surprisingly small amount of screen time as Beetlejuice only 17 minutes. Monday. From Beetlejuice to Batman to Birdman: the actor on superheroes, surprise roles and his second act. Tim Burton, though, wanted to do something a little more different than what the two envisioned and brought Warren Skaaren on board to polish things up, aka change things. It must have been particularly hard for them, facing so much scrutiny during Batman, but Keaton insists he wasnt aware of it or not until he happened to pick up the business section of a newspaper and saw a cartoon of his face in an article suggesting that he, personally, would damage Warner Bros stock. [The film] just wasnt any good, man. My fathers side, the Scottish Protestant side? I feel I made a pretty good case earlier for why Beetlejuice is remembered as one of the most beloved horror-comedy movies and how its surrealist approach to that genre crossover is key to its enduring iconography. Once we got something mixed in the mail, something from one of the [acting] unions, and I had to return it to him and we talked about it then. Well, Michael Keaton may have played the "starring role" in Beetlejuice (credited as "Betelgeuse"), but did you know he has just a minuscule 17 minutes' screentime in this 92-minute film? What happened? Not really, no, and thats a good way of putting it: married, house, kid right away, career, a lot of attention, which is not something Im crazy about. Free shipping for many products! The year prior to that movie's release, Keaton worked with director Tim Burton on the fondly remembered supernatural comedy " Beetlejuice ." For years, rumors of a sequel have run rampant. I am asked to interview Michael Keaton. Man, you got me going on this!, We spend 10 minutes nerding out over The Breakfast Club, before he thinks back to when he met Hughes while making Mr Mom: I read the script and I thought, Wow, this is really funny, this guy has something. And then I met John and I said, You ought to direct this [too]. But he said no, he was off to direct those movies starring people closer to your age, he says, referring to the teen movies, which is sweet, because I am in my late 30s. how much did michael keaton make for beetlejuice. Were all here for a millisecond, so how bad can this be? he says, his drawn-out vowels (maaan, baaad) revealing his Pittsburgh origins. It's time to feed your thirst for Beetlejuice knowledge with behind-the-scenes secrets and all of the things that could have been. There were several scenes written that never made it into the final film, including one that showed the world of limbo between the living and the dead as giant gears (and hands of clocks) cut through actual fabrics that represented time: Here's the scene from one of the original scripts: -- The size of a man -- rolls by, tearing up the unseamed ground. Who can forget that iconic scene in 1988's "Beetlejuice" when the cast breaks out into a chorus of "Day-O." Or her many laugh-out-loud moments as Kate, the mother of Macauley Culkin's . Academy Awards, USA 1989 Winner Oscar: Best Makeup Ve Neill Steve LaPorte Robert Short: . I was talking about this with Colin Farrell the other day on the Dumbo set, actually, because hes another youngest, and we youngests always relate to one another. Not so much, he says. For the scene in which the shrimp jump off the plates and attack the guests at the dinner party, Tim Burton tried using stage hands under the table, throwing the shrimp, but it wasnt working.