 In September 2011 , Warner Bros. hired Seth Grahame @-@ Smith , who collaborated with Burton on Dark Shadows and Abraham Lincoln : Vampire Hunter , to write and produce a sequel to Beetlejuice . Grahame @-@ Smith signed on with the intention of doing " a story that is worthy of us actually doing this for real , something that is not just about cashing in , is not just about forcing a remake or a reboot down someone 's throat . " He was also adamant that Keaton would return and that Warner Bros. would not recast the role . Burton and Keaton have not officially signed on but will return if the script is good enough . Grahame @-@ Smith met with Keaton in February 2012 , " 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 Tim . [ Michael 's ] been wanting to do it for 20 years and he 'll talk to anybody about it who will listen . " The story will be set in a real time frame from 1988 ; " This will be a true 26 or 27 years later sequel . What 's great is that for Beetlejuice [ sic ] , time means nothing in the afterlife , but the world outside is a different story . " 
