The ghost with the most is back, back, back — and 36 years on, Michael Keaton's black-and-white suited bio-exorcist has clearly still got the juice. At least, that's certainly the picture painted by Beetlejuice Beetlejuice's opening weekend at the box office, which saw Tim Burton's long-awaited sequel to his zany 1988 comedy chiller bag a cool $145 million worldwide. To put that figure into context, not only has Burton's latest zoomed into second-place in the all-time September opening weekend rankings stateside (beaten only by Andy Muschietti's IT), but its impressive global cume also makes it a career-best start for several of its stars — including Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, and Jenna Ortega.
The bulk of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice's box office business over the weekend was done on Burton's home turf, with cinemagoers turning out in their droves to drive the film to a $110 million domestic open. But given the fact the original Beetlejuice didn't experience a wide international theatrical release back in '88, its modest $35 million start in foreign markets isn't to be sniffed at — especially given how drastically things have cooled at the box office since Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine's billion dollar plus summer successes. In fact, even taking out Beetlejuice Beetlejuice's US haul, the movie has already outdone Eli Roth's Borderlands' $31 million worldwide total.
Whether Beetlejuice Beetlejuice's success is the result of spooky season hype, nostalgia for the original, star Jenna Ortega's 38+ million strong social media following, or simply the fact that it's fun to see Burton flying his freak flag so high once again, who can say? But the Juice is loose in cinemas once more folks, and fans are clearly thirsty for more, so don't be surprised if this isn't the last we've heard from Keaton's ghastly, ghostly, ghoulish gag machine. Plus, y'know, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is right there as the trilogy capper's title. (Oh man, we said it three times in a row...)