Screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith Discusses Beetlejuice Remake and Possible Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Sequel
Posted 02.14.12 by Ryan
Writer Seth Grahame-Smith first gained notoriety writing the mash-up novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which Lionsgate has optioned, but is having a hard time keeping a director on board, having just lost its third. Grahame-Smith's second best-selling novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, was also turned into a movie, with Grahame-Smith handling the script adaptation. The writer then moved on to handling the script for the upcoming Dark Shadows and, most recently, took on the responsibilities of writing a Beetlejuice sequel as part of a production deal he signed with Warner Bros. last September.
Not many Beetlejuice fans were pleased with the idea of another installment, so Grahame-Smith told EW last October that the sequel will be "a true continuation 26 years later" after the original and will feature Michael Keaton as the title character. While the movie has yet to be written, Grahame-Smith told ShockTillYouDrop that he has met with Keaton about the sequel.
It's a reality in the sense that I met with Michael Keaton last week. We talked for a couple of hours and talked about big picture stuff. It's a priority for Warner Bros. It's a priority for [Beeteljuice director] Tim [Burton]. Right now, I am writing an animated movie for Tim based on an idea of mine. Then I adapt Unholy Night [based on the upcoming book]. The third I am hoping is Beetlejuice in terms of writing schedule.
Grahame-Smith said that Keaton's interest level in a Beetlejuice sequel was "huge."
[Keaton]'s been wanting to do it for 20 years and he'll talk to anybody about it who will listen. I really told him, I have a huge reverence for Tim and a huge reverence for that film in general. I don't think we should do it if we shit on the legacy. He agrees. So, right now, it remains to be seen, I have a couple of story ideas, but we're very early out.
Another writing assignment for Grahame-Smith could be another sequel, this time for his own Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Yesterday, Twentieth Century Fox finally released the teaser trailer for the movie, which opens in June. Should the movie find box office success, Grahame-Smith told ScreenRant that a sequel is "absolutely" possible.
The short answer is yes, absolutely. If you read the book there’s an epilogue that leaves things open to that. In the film, without giving anything away, we don’t definitively end the origin story. We leave, not only a mentor story, but also possibly a Lincoln story open.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and produced by Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd). The movie stars Benjamin Walker as Lincoln; Anthony Mackie as Lincoln's friend William Johnson; Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Mary Todd Lincoln, the President's wife; Dominic Cooper as Henry Sturges, Lincoln's fanged mentor; and Rufus Sewell as the main vampire antagonist Adam.
Next Showing: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter opens June 22nd