After the success of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was his biggest hit in a long time. As well as earning over $450 million at the box office, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice turned around a critical slump that began for Burton back in 2010. The director’s live-action re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland failed to win over reviewers despite earning a billion at the box office, starting a string of failures.

In the years that followed, Miss Peregrine's Home for Unusual Children, Dark Shadows, Big Eyes, and Dumbo all failed to win back critical approval for Burton. However, by the time Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s ending rolled around, it was clear that Burton was back. There is even fan demand for another sequel despite the multiple-decade wait between movies, but Burton has other projects lined up in the meantime. The next movie he is reportedly working on is a remake of 1958’s campy sci-fi horror cult classic Attack of the 50ft Woman, but Burton must be careful with this one.

Attack Of The 50ft Woman Has To Break Tim Burton's Remake Trend

Tim Burton’s Remakes Are Rarely Worth Watching

Burton's record with movie remakes is undeniably patchy, and Attack of the 50ft Woman could become another divisive effort for the director. Although 1989’s Batman is superb and 2012’s Frankenweenie was deservedly acclaimed, the former is an adaptation in its own right and the latter is a feature-length expansion of Burton’s own short film. As such, neither really counts as remakes, but the Burton movies that do paint a grim picture. 2001’s disastrous Planet of the Apes is arguably Burton’s worst movie, while 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake features some truly grating moments.

Burton appears to be creatively reinvigorated judging by Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s success, and the remake could benefit from his love of vintage sci-fi.

That somewhat redundant Roald Dahl re-imagining was divisive, while 2010’s Alice in Wonderland remake was outright disliked by critics. 2012’s Dark Shadows fared even worse, and 2019’s Dumbo was instrumental in turning reviewers against Disney’s live-action remakes when even Burton himself itted that he didn’t enjoy working on the blockbuster. To be fair to the director, none of these projects were all that well suited to his style, unlike Attack of the 50ft Woman. Burton appears to be creatively reinvigorated judging by Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s success, and the remake could benefit from his love of vintage sci-fi.

Why Tim Burton Can Break His Poor Remake Streak

Tim Burton’s Love Of Vintage Sci-fi May Save Attack of the 50ft Woman

A look back on Tim Burton’s horror movies proves that Attack of the 50ft Woman is a better fit for Burton than Dumbo, as he has always been ionate about 1950s B-movies and trashy genre fare. 1994’s Ed Wood, arguably the director's best movie yet, is a biopic of an infamously bad director, while Wednesday’s success proves that Burton can make a remake work when he has the freedom to completely reinvent the source material. Thanks to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, there is a sense that Tim Burton is truly back to his old self and this means his next remake could prove a hit.

However, Attack Of The 50ft Woman's remake is not without its risks. Gone Girl scribe Gillian Flynn is set to pen the movie's screenplay, according to Burton's track record with sci-fi is almost as bad as his record with remakes. Although the director clearly has an affinity for the genre, Planet of the Apes 2001 and 1996's Mars Attacks are rarely cited among his best works.

Can Attack Of The 50ft Woman Be As Successful As Beetlejuice 2?

Attack Of The 50ft Woman May Struggle To Match Beetlejuice’s Sequel Success

Even if Attack Of The 50ft Woman does prove as successful as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in of Burton’s creative rejuvenation, the remake’s commercial prospects are a different story. The outsized success of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice came as something of a surprise, since the original movie was a cult hit rather than a mainstream blockbuster, but the presence of stars like Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega made Burton’s 2024 sequel less of a gamble. If Ortega, who has played lead roles in Burton’s last two projects, takes on the remake’s title role, Attack Of The 50ft Woman could prove similarly successful.

2017's dramedy Colossal is one earlier example of a quirky indie approach to the kaiju subgenre, and that Anne Hathaway vehicle underperformed badly upon its release.

The most comparable movie in Burton’s existing filmography is his earlier ‘50s sci-fi pastiche Mars Attacks, which fared poorly at the box office when it earned only $100 million on a budget of $80 million. However, that was 28 years ago, and Attack Of The 50ft Woman could be more of a character-driven story than that chaotic, blackly comedic alien invasion movie. 2017’s dramedy Colossal is one earlier example of a quirky indie approach to the kaiju subgenre, and that Anne Hathaway vehicle underperformed badly upon its release. Thus, Attack Of The 50ft Woman’s prospects are tough to predict.

What Else Is Tim Burton Doing After Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?

Burton Is Working On Wednesday Season 2 As Well As Attack Of The 50ft Woman

While Burton’s Attack Of The 50ft Woman is his next big movie, it is not the only project that the director is attached to. First and foremost, there is Wednesday season 2. The second season of the hit Addams Family re-imagining is currently filming in Ireland and recently added Lady Gaga to its cast, proving that the sophomore outing will be even bigger and more ambitious than its predecessor. Wednesday season 2’s horror-forward story promises to be darker and edgier than season 1, and there is a whole host of other unrealized projects that Burton could bring back.

Wednesday season 2 is set to be released on Netflix in 2025.

Now that the director has seemingly found his mojo again, it would not be a major shock if he were to revisit his abandoned game adaptation Monsterpocalypse. This project would pair well with Attack Of The 50ft Woman, doubling down on Burton’s love of kitschy vintage sci-fi. It is a lot less likely that the director will ever revive his planned Hunchback of Notre Dame live-action remake from 2011, given his disinterest in further Disney collaborations. However, anything is possible now that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has proven that Tim Burton can still make a massive hit without losing the unique vision that first made him famous.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.

Source: Variety