Asked about a third Beetlejuice film, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” co-writer Alfred Gough pointed to director Tim Burton in a ScreenRant interview published Nov. 5, 2026: “You never say never, but that’s really up to Tim. And I think with Catherine’s passing, it’s certainly harder. Yeah.”
Catherine O’Hara played Delia Deetz in both films and died Jan. 30, 2026, at 71.
Her Delia lip-syncs Harry Belafonte’s voice while ghosts force her dinner guests to sing and dance in Beetlejuice.
The sequence had no music in Michael McDowell’s 1985 draft. Co-writer Larry Wilson recalled in Pitchfork’s April 4, 2018, feature that their original idea involved spilled wine and a floral rug sprouting vines around the guests. A rewrite by Warren Skaaren called for a possessed singalong to the Ink Spots’ “If I Didn’t Care.”
Jeffrey Jones, who played Delia’s husband, Charles Deetz, told Pitchfork that O’Hara wanted more energy and suggested calypso. He drew on records he’d played growing up and offered several songs, including “Day-O.” Jones recalled the producers pursuing clearance, then Burton telling him they’d use it.
Castmate Dick Cavett supplied another memory: 6 stagehands operated the attacking shrimp from beneath the table without being able to see, and on the first take, a badly aimed shrimp hit O’Hara in the face, prompting her to swear.
