In honor of star Winona Ryder's 42nd birthday, today's feature film is "Beetlejuice" (1988).
1. Director Tim Burton's first choice to play the title character was his childhood icon, Sammy Davis, Jr. Thankfully, Michael Keaton was suggested by producer David Geffen and the rest is history.
2. The original script was for a horror movie -- not a comedy -- about a leather-winged demon whose human form was a small Middle-Eastern man with an African American pidgin dialect.
3. Warner Bros. hated the title and wanted to call it "House Ghosts." Burton jokingly suggested "Scared Sheetless" and was horrified when they actually considered it, but he put his foot down and got "Beetlejuice."
4. Jennifer Connelly, Sarah Jessica Parker and Winona Ryder turned down the part of Lydia. Ryder eventually reconsidered and gave one of her most famous performances ever.
5. Michael Keaton only spent two weeks filming his part in the film, which came out to 17.5 minutes of the 92 minute running time.
With Tim Burton and Michael Keaton being eyed for a sequel, we could be seeing the ghoul back on the big screen in the next few years -- who wouldn't want to see that?!
