Michael Keaton harbours doubts over Beetlejuice sequel

Michael Keaton isn't certain a Beetlejuice sequel will ever be made.

Ever since the actor starred alongside Winona Ryder in Tim Burton's 1988 cult comedy horror, fans have held out for a follow-up.

Over the past year speculation about a new Beetlejuice movie has escalated, especially after screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith admitted in January (16) he had penned a draft script and had been in contact with Michael.

As a result, The Birdman star has been repeatedly forced to deny he is returning as the title character in interviews, a situation he blames on himself.

"I can go back 20 years, maybe longer, maybe I was the one who even brought it up," he told Australia's Sydney Morning Herald.

"I maybe said, 'If there's one thing I'd like to remake it's Beetlejuice' - and that might be 20 years ago that I said it.

"Nobody paid attention, but all of a sudden people tell me, 'I hear you're doing it', and I'm like 'I have no idea what you're talking about'. Wait a minute, am I crazy? Why are people still talking about this?"

Michael, 65, explained that although he has always been open to returning as Beetlejuice, he fears the opportunity to make a sequel may have been missed.

"I f**king loved doing that movie. If I never did another thing, you could point to it and say, 'There was never anything like that,'" he said. "So I always said, man let's do that again. Whoever is in charge has had the opportunity to make it for many, many years. They should have just pulled the trigger and done it. But they didn't, and it had nothing to do with me or Tim."

The actor will next be seen on screens in The Founder, a biopic of McDonald's fast food entrepreneur Ray Kroc, due out in January next year (17).