CORRECTION: “Beetlejuice” more than broke even in 1988. It grossed $85M on a $15M budget.
EARLIER: As Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice” continues to dominate the box office, here comes a NYT report that claims the studio was initially not that confident in the film being a success.
This lack of confidence went so far as Warners openly discussing turning the film into a streaming-only release on Max. The only thing that saved it from this fate was the hiring of Michael DeLuca and Pamela Abdy as Warners co-chairs. They eventually made a deal with Burton — who initially wanted a $150M budget — to lower the costs and turn it into a theatrical release.
“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 between Burton and Warners had to do with bringing the budget down by $50M. Abdy and DeLuca told Burton he had their guarantee for a theatrical release if the budget could hit just under $100M.
To attain this lower budget, the producers worked out deals with stars, Jenna Ortega, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara, for them to take less money up front and more on the back end.
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise for Warners to initially not believe in the potential success of a ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel, the original, although a cult hit, was released 30 years ago. Regardless, the sequel is now close to hitting the $200M domestic mark at the box-office, in just 12 days of release.