Michael Keaton Would Like To Remind You Beetlejuice Is More Than Just Merch

Tim Burton’s iconoclast agent of undead chaos Beetlejuice has, over the years, become a pop culture staple especially during Halloween. Between Warner Bros. collections at Hot Topic, Funko, Loungefly, and Spirit Halloween, the Jooce has become a comedic ambassador for all things spooky. This is something that star Michael Keaton, didn’t expect—and as he told Empire Magazine he found, “fucking weird.”

Particularly, Keaton took some apprehension in regards to the commodification of Beetlejuice being so prevalent in the years since the original film’s debut. “There’s been so much merchandising of it, I had to drop back to where it started,” Keaton explained how it gave him trepidation to take on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. “I had to go, ‘What was my unusual imagination even thinking about when I was developing it in the first place?’ As opposed to seeing a coffee mug or a golf club cover.” It was something that affected who the character was to him before coming on board to reprise the role for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Keaton continued, “To be honest with you–I’m being very frank–it was off-putting, to look and go, ‘I don’t want to look like all these little things, fuck that–what was the thing that started this?’”

Alas, with the sequel’s impending release, we’re sure to get even more merchandising this year whether Keaton wants it or not. But the actor returned for more than getting the character’s face slapped on everything. “I absolutely love this thing. And I don’t usually talk like that,” Keaton said of his work on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. “I unabashedly love this. It was not easy to pull off and I think we did it in spades.”

We’ll remember that as we sip our coffee out of our Beetlejuice travel mugs this fall. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opens September 6.

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