After the success ofBeetlejuice Beetlejuice,Tim Burton’s next movie will see the visionary director return to trickier terrain. Tim Burton’s career has seen the director fall in and out of favor with critics, but 2024’s belatedBeetlejuicesequelBeetlejuice Beetlejuicewas his biggest hit in a long time. As well as earning over $450 million at the box office,Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceturned around a critical slump that began for Burton back in 2010. The director’s live-action re-imagining ofAlice in Wonderlandfailed to win over reviewers despite earning a billion at the box office, starting a string of failures.
Beetlejuice 3: Confirmation & Everything We Know
Tim Burton’s classic horror comedy Beetlejuice got a long-awaited sequel in 2024, and development has even begun on Beetlejuice 3.
In the years that followed,Miss Peregrine’s Home for Unusual Children,Dark Shadows,Big Eyes, andDumboall failed to win back critical approval for Burton. However, by the timeBeetlejuice Beetlejuice’s endingrolled around, it was clear that Burton was back. There is even fan demand for another sequel despite the multiple-decade wait between movies, but Burton has other projects lined up in the meantime. The next movie he is reportedly working on is a remake of 1958’s campy sci-fi horror cult classicAttack of the 50ft Woman, but Burton must be careful with this one.
Attack Of The 50ft Woman Has To Break Tim Burton’s Remake Trend
Tim Burton’s Remakes Are Rarely Worth Watching
Burton’s record with movie remakes is undeniably patchy, andAttack of the 50ft Womancould become another divisive effort for the director. Although 1989’sBatmanis superb and 2012’sFrankenweeniewas deservedly acclaimed, the former is an adaptation in its own right and the latter is a feature-length expansion of Burton’s own short film. As such, neither really counts as remakes, but the Burton movies that do paint a grim picture. 2001’s disastrousPlanet of the Apesisarguably Burton’s worst movie, while 2005’sCharlie and the Chocolate Factoryremake features some truly grating moments.
Burton appears to be creatively reinvigorated judging byBeetlejuice Beetlejuice’s success, and the remake could benefit from his love of vintage sci-fi.
That somewhat redundant Roald Dahl re-imagining was divisive, while 2010’sAlice in Wonderlandremake was outright disliked by critics. 2012’sDark Shadowsfared even worse, and 2019’sDumbowas instrumental in turning reviewers against Disney’s live-action remakes when even Burton himself admitted that he didn’t enjoy working on the blockbuster. To be fair to the director, none of these projects were all that well suited to his style, unlikeAttack of the 50ft Woman. Burton appears to be creatively reinvigorated judging byBeetlejuice Beetlejuice’s success, and the remake could benefit from his love of vintage sci-fi.
Why Tim Burton Can Break His Poor Remake Streak
Tim Burton’s Love Of Vintage Sci-fi May Save Attack of the 50ft Woman
Alook back on Tim Burton’s horror moviesproves thatAttack of the 50ft Womanis a better fit for Burton thanDumbo, as he has always been passionate about 1950s B-movies and trashy genre fare. 1994’sEd Wood, arguably the director’s best movie yet, is a biopic of an infamously bad director, whileWednesday’s success proves that Burton can make a remake work when he has the freedom to completely reinvent the source material. Thanks toBeetlejuice Beetlejuice, there is a sense that Tim Burton is truly back to his old self and this means his next remake could prove a hit.
Planet of the Apes(2001)
$100 million
$362 million
43%
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory(2005)
$150 million
$475 million
83%
$1.025 billion
50%
$245.5 million
35%
$170 million
$353.3 million
46%
However,Attack Of The 50ft Woman’s remake is not without its risks.Gone Girlscribe Gillian Flynn is set to pen the movie’s screenplay, according toVarietyand, while her razor-sharp wit would be a perfect fit for many directors, Flynn’s acerbic work could jar with the whimsy and levity Burton is famous for. Meanwhile,Burton’s track record with sci-fiis almost as bad as his record with remakes. Although the director clearly has an affinity for the genre,Planet of the Apes2001 and 1996’sMars Attacksare rarely cited among his best works.
Can Attack Of The 50ft Woman Be As Successful As Beetlejuice 2?
Attack Of The 50ft Woman May Struggle To Match Beetlejuice’s Sequel Success
Even ifAttack Of The 50ft Womandoes prove as successful asBeetlejuice Beetlejuicein terms of Burton’s creative rejuvenation, the remake’s commercial prospects are a different story. The outsized success ofBeetlejuice Beetlejuicecame as something of a surprise, since the original movie was a cult hit rather than a mainstream blockbuster, butthe presence of stars like Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega made Burton’s 2024 sequel less of a gamble. If Ortega, who has played lead roles in Burton’s last two projects, takes on the remake’s title role,Attack Of The 50ft Womancould prove similarly successful.
2017’s dramedyColossalis one earlier example of a quirky indie approach to the kaiju subgenre, and that Anne Hathaway vehicle underperformed badly upon its release.
The most comparable movie in Burton’s existing filmography is his earlier ‘50s sci-fi pasticheMars Attacks, which fared poorly at the box office when it earned only $100 million on a budget of $80 million. However, that was 28 years ago, andAttack Of The 50ft Womancould be more of a character-driven story than that chaotic, blackly comedic alien invasion movie.2017’s dramedyColossalis one earlier example of a quirky indie approach to the kaiju subgenre, and that Anne Hathaway vehicle underperformed badly upon its release. Thus,Attack Of The 50ft Woman’s prospects are tough to predict.
What Else Is Tim Burton Doing After Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?
Burton Is Working On Wednesday Season 2 As Well As Attack Of The 50ft Woman
While Burton’sAttack Of The 50ft Womanis his next big movie, it is not the only project that the director is attached to. First and foremost, there isWednesdayseason 2. The second season of the hitAddams Familyre-imagining is currently filming in Ireland and recently added Lady Gaga to its cast, proving that the sophomore outing will be even bigger and more ambitious than its predecessor.Wednesdayseason 2’s horror-forward storypromises to be darker and edgier than season 1, and there is a whole host of other unrealized projects that Burton could bring back.
Wednesdayseason 2 is set to be released on Netflix in 2025.
Now that the director has seemingly found his mojo again, it would not be a major shock if he were to revisit his abandoned game adaptationMonsterpocalypse. This project would pair well withAttack Of The 50ft Woman, doubling down on Burton’s love of kitschy vintage sci-fi. It is a lot less likely that the director will ever revive his plannedHunchback of Notre Damelive-action remake from 2011, given his disinterest in further Disney collaborations. However, anything is possible now thatBeetlejuice Beetlejuicehas proven thatTim Burtoncan still make a massive hit without losing the unique vision that first made him famous.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceis now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.
