After 36 years of waiting, the juice is finally loose again in “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” racking up $110 million in its premiere weekend.
The long-awaited Tim Burton sequel is the third-best opening weekend of the year, only behind box office triumphs “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine.”
Michael Keaton returns as the titular spirit, and Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder reprise their roles as Delia and Lydia Deetz. Newcomer Jenna Ortega plays the latter’s daughter, Astrid. Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci and Justin Theroux round out the cast.
The Warner Bros. sequel is the second-highest-grossing September movie ever, behind 2017’s “It,” which opened with a staggering $123 million. The 2019 sequel “It Chapter 2” opened with $91 million and previously held the No. 2 spot for September openings.
The original “Beetlejuice” film earned a mere $8 million in its opening weekend in 1988, unadjusted for inflation, but went on to make $77 million in theaters domestically as it became a cult classic.
“There’s life in the afterlife,” said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. “Many things have to happen simultaneously, and all the stars are aligning.”
Goldstein confirmed the film’s budget of $100 million and said the studio expected an opening weekend of between $80 million and $90 million. Given the early success, he said the film “may get really long legs” with Halloween season approaching.
Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, said September is “not known as a hotbed of $100 million blockbuster debuts” but attributed part of the film’s success to Burton’s singular style and the star cast.
In addition to the returning cast, Ortega, who starred in the Netflix series “Wednesday” about the “Addams Family” character, likely brought in younger audiences.
“If all this was were a nostalgia play for people who saw the first movie, it wouldn’t necessarily work,” Dergarabedian said. “Part of the magic formula of ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ is having a great cast of a revered generation of actors and then having young actors making their mark.”
The electric opening weekend kicks off the fall movie season with a bang after a sleepy Labor Day weekend and a relatively slow August saw newer films struggle as holdover movies ruled the box office.
Beyond “Beetlejuice,” “Deadpool & Wolverine” placed second on the box office charts, making $7.2 million in its seventh weekend. Its cumulative domestic total is now $614 million.
“Reagan,” the Dennis Quaid-led biopic about the 40th U.S. president, continues to beat expectations. In its second weekend, the film made $5.2 million, climbing to third place.
“Alien: Romulus” and “It Ends With Us,” two more summer holdovers, came in fourth and fifth place, respectively. The sci-fi horror film brought in $3.9 million, and the romance drama brought in $3.8 million.
The only new weekend release on the box office rankings was “The Greatest of All Time,” an Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film. The movie starred Joseph Vijay and was directed by Venkat Prabhu, known for directing and writing other Indian action films. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore.
1. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” $110 million
2. “Deadpool & Wolverine,” $7.2 million
3. “Reagan,” $5.2 million
4. “Alien: Romulus,” $3.9 million
5. “It Ends With Us,” $3.8 million
6. “The Forge,” $2.9 million
7. “Twisters,” $2.3 million
8. “Blink Twice,” $2.1 million
9. “The Greatest of All Time,” $2 million
10. Despicable Me 4,” $1.8 million