Tommy Harper is known for producing blockbuster films and television shows for a global audience. His notable credits include Top Gun: Maverick, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Alice in Wonderland, Mission: Impossible III, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond.

During production of Wednesday (The Addams Family TV spinoff) the time was ripe to revisit Beetlejuice for a long-awaited sequel. Tim Burton asked Tommy Harper to produce the next Beetlejuice film for him.

Tommy Harper

A sequel to Tim Burton’s 1998 stylized, edgy, horror comedy Beetlejuice had been in development for many years and finally found its followup over a quarter century later. There was industry talk of a sequel to Beetlejuice five years after the original, but Burton wasn’t ready for it. He needed a few more movies and lived life experience under his belt.

“He wanted to see where life had taken him. That’s how he refers to Lydia’s (Winona Ryder) character in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” says Harper.

Getting Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Made

It takes an army of producers to make a film with a hundred million dollar plus budget – Tommy Harper being one of them. The twelve executive producers on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice were mainly charged with financing the film and the twelve producers who have creative ownership of a project, bring it to fruition. Harper admits that the lines between the two roles can get blurred.

Tim Burton and I ran point (took charge) day-to-day on all aspects of the production of the film

When Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was eventually greenlit, Burton and Harper discussed the larger story beats and where they wanted the film to go. Tim had a very clear idea of where Winter River and its residents were in the sequel, especially Lydia. Then they met with writers Miles Millar and Alfred Gough to flesh out the story over a few weekends and discuss wider structure and characters. The screenwriters wrote a treatment for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and presented it to Warner Bros for their approval.

Sequel Or Franchise?

Tommy Harper considers Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to be part of a franchise, much like the Top Gun films he’s worked on. A sequel is concerned with the continuation of the story, while a franchise explores different aspects of the universe.

“It’s where we are today in the world with the characters,” adds Harper. “I would like Beetlejuice to be part of a larger franchise whether we make more movies or not.” That said, Burton and Harper set out to make a good movie that stood on its own. Tim never wanted to make a Beetlejuice 2.

Although Beetlejuice Beetlejuice must pay tribute to the original movie on some level, Harper and Burton didn’t explicitly state which references from the first film they would use. Many of the story beats organically fell into place. There were also fresh surprises including the A Capella version of Day-O, the Sandworm and the Soul Train.

Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara), Astrid Deetz (Jenna Ortega), Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) & Rory (Justin Theroux). Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh/ Warner Bros. Pictures

This was a delicate balance of giving the fans too much of what they expect and a sense of familiarity. There were numerous discussions about how much Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) would appear in the film. Some argue he was in it too much or too little. “I think you just have to kind of sprinkle the right amount on it.”

Working With Tim Burton

“Honestly, the guy is such a joy to work with. He’s a collaborator both in the script and production phase.” Harper quotes an example when Tim called about about the Soul Train musical numbers.

“You hear the joy and the love come out of his mouth of what he’s trying to describe to you… his love of making films and what’s trying to get out of his brain in front of the camera.”

“It’s incredibly challenging in the best way because I’m trying to interpret what he’s talking about and give him what he wants as a producer. It’s not too dissimilar to when you’re breaking story with him and he shows up with sketches that he’s drawn.”

“You can see the story beats, and then he puts words in between those pictures. It’s just really a beautiful process to see because he’s a true artist and you see him go from pen to pad, to words on the page, to concept art, to real set build, to real shooting, and then you’re in an editorial phase.”

Harper and Burton constantly went back and forth with the screenwriters fine tune the script. “Tim’s very quick with notes. We give him the script. He’ll read it. Next day we’re on the phone with Al and Miles talking about what we want changed.” 

Tim Burton & Delores (Monica Bellucci). Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh/ Warner Bros. Pictures

“Tim’s a very efficient filmmaker because he’s motivated and he’s bought into the material. He really wanted to know what the actors’ notes were so he talked to them each individually about the script and relayed the information back to the writers. The writers would quickly incorporate those notes into revisions.”

“We wanted to make sure this movie was very much like the original and the actors had time to improvise and do things on the set.”

Working Within A Budget

Regardless of whether you have a one or a hundred million dollar budget, budgetary constraints matter. Creative compromises are constantly made.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was shot in around forty five days, which is fast in relation to similarly-budgeted films.

“The big thing in trying to figure out how to make this movie from a creative standpoint was to give Tim what he wants in front of camera. Those were real sets, real people, and real costumes. That was a challenge to pull off because there was a massive amount of people and we had to figure out how to do things practically.”

“We couldn’t afford all the sets we wanted so we had a black and white flashback sequence to tell a little bit of Beetlejuice’s origin. We had to rethink it and had to build these scenes more like big stage plays. We painted backdrops and had more shadowy type sets.” Burton’s attitude was “less is more in terms of elaborate sets.”

Al Gough and Miles Millar would often contact Tommy Harper regarding story beats and their relative cost. “I’d say, ‘Write it. Let’s put it on the page. Let’s see if it works.’ If it works, let’s see how we achieve it financially. And if we can’t achieve it financially, how do we still get to what we want? Maybe there’s a different path to get there that’s more efficient on the financial side of it.”

Surviving In The Film Business

Tommy Harper contends that he produces four quadrant films for the largest audience possible. Jenna Ortega who plays Lydia’s daughter Astrid “was a secret weapon” due to her expansive fan base. The same holds true for Catherine O’Hara who plays Lydia’s stepmother Delia. Wednesday hadn’t been release yet, so Burton and Harper didn’t know how big Jenna Ortega would become.

Visual effects and assorted gimmicks will only take a film so far. It can only attract a wide audience if there’s a “real human story” underpinning it.

Tommy Harper is also wary of unnecessary bad language or excessive violence unless it drives the story. “If it drives the story, you stand behind it, but if it doesn’t drive it, you’re just doing it for shock value,” he warns.

Harper isn’t against producing smaller budget festival films because many of the same issues arise. “It’s just about story, talent, and the right individuals. I always talk to agents, other producing partners, and directors. I would love to do something that’s just character-based and made for three million dollars.”

The Current State of The Film & TV Business

Tommy Harper believes the great reset in the industry is underway. There will always be an audience for quality storytelling. Cinemas are not doomed. “People want to be with people again.”

“I think people want to sit in an environment around people, fill the room and have fun in a social setting. It could be an edge of your seat thriller or a big action movie that you feel like you’re on the ride of your life. The sound is so incredible, you have to go see it in cinema.”

Cinema is an immersive experience and you have to figure out what that story is to get people there

“I think that we have to look at things and do things differently and not have unlimited resources. How do we do things for a price? Or on a schedule or a different time frame?”

Harper sees fewer films being made for theatrical release, but they’ll be of a higher quality. “I think people want to see tangible films. They are over the fully CGI movies.”

“We have to deliver that as a business side. If you tell a great story, people want to go and escape for an hour and a half to two hours and be transported into a different place.”

Advice To Screenwriters

Tommy Harper’s main advice to screenwriters is to keep writing and not trying to chase current trends. “You’ve just got to write something that is really good, really appealing, and try to be original.”

Screenwriters shouldn’t pigeon-hole themselves as writing in only one genre or platform unless that is all they do.

“I think the best writers I’ve ever worked with are writers who write in a lot of different genres and even bounce between television and features. You can’t just be one track in today’s world. You have to be able to be versatile and pivot the same set of emotional experienced and experiences.”