Beetlejuice writer talks sequel plans

Seth Grahame-Smith has said that the sequel to classic 80s horror-fantasy Beetlejuice is proceeding 'cautiously and carefully'.

The writer of 'Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter' also added that the film will most definitely be a sequel rather than a reboot of the original film.

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The first film's director Tim Burton has said that both he and the film's star Michael Keaton would be up for returning if the script is up to snuff.

Grahame-Smith has even tweeted a picture of himself wearing a black and white striped suit as worn by Keaton's oddball 'bio-exorcist', with the caption 'it's showtime', Keaton's iconic quote from the first film.

Speaking about the project, he told SciFiNow: “I think that you'd have to be an idiot not to be nervous about taking on something so beloved by so many people, myself included.

“Which is the precise reason why we told Warner Bros we would absolutely not even think about doing it without Michael Keaton reprising his role and without Tim's involvement and we were lucky enough to get both men to agree in theory, provided the script was strong enough that they'd at least be open to it. So we're proceeding slowly, cautiously and carefully.

"What I will say is that we are not remaking or rebooting this movie, we are absolutely doing a 26 years later sequel, and more important than that, if we don't feel like it does the first movie justice then I think it's even better not to do it, so we'll see.”

'Beetlejuice' emerged in 1988, and starred Keaton alongside Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis and Winona Ryder. It also won itself an Oscar for its outlandish make-up.