Burton, Keaton, Ryder in Talks for "Beetlejuice 2"

Is it "showtime" again for Beetlejuice?

Sources have told Variety that Tim Burton is in talks to direct a sequel to his 1988 comedy, Beetlejuice. Seth Grahame Smith (Dark Shadows, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) penned the script and will produce with his partner David Katzenberg through their KatzSmith Productions.

Burton rarely does sequels (his only sequel has been Batman Returns), but perhaps he's interested in revisiting one of his favorite film characters. Vital to this is that Michael Keaton is interested in reprising his leading ghoulish role, having told NME.com that the sequel is "a go."

Additionally, Winona Ryder might be reprising her character. The actress recently told The Daily Beast that the long-gestating sequel "might be happening."

Burton, of course, is quite busy. The filmmaker is also eyeing his Fox project, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, with one source saying it could possibly go before Beetlejuice 2. Also, he is in production on his latest feature, Big Eyes.

More information will be announced in the near future, so stay tuned!

Winona Ryder in "Beetlejuice" Sequel?

Winona Ryder is reportedly set to be in talks with Tim Burton and screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith next week to discuss the possibility of making a sequel to the 1988 comedy, Beetlejuice.

Will she star in the film?: "You tell me - I don't know! I've heard from journalists, that's how I found out, but I'm seeing Tim next week, and I will let you know."

She added: "I'm trying to think about how that would work. Obviously I'm not [the focal point]; it's got to be Michael [Keaton]. So is it happening?... Tim hasn't confirmed it yet."

Ryder clarified that she would not be averse to joining the project if the story appealed to her: "If it was interesting. Although, I don't know if I would ever know a good script if it bit me in the face. But, I know what I like, so we'll see.

"Seth is writing something. I just told him, because it was something where I liked the character, he'd probably have a better response. He has ideas about it, so I just wanted to let him respond to it and see what he comes up with."

Winona Ryder has collaborated with Tim Burton on Beetlejuice (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and his newest feature, Frankenweenie (2012).

Videos: New "Vampire Hunter" Cast & Crew Interviews

HeyUGuys posted some interviews with cast and crew members of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Producer Tim Burton:




Director Timur Bekmambetov and writer Seth Grahame-Smith:




Benjamin Walker and Anthony Mackie:




Mary Elizabeth Winstead:




Dominic Cooper and Rufus Sewell:

Video: Burton on "Vampire Hunter," "Frankenweenie," Old and New Projects

Collider recently had a conversation with Tim Burton. In the interview, the filmmaker discussed a range of topics, from how Disney let him make his stop-motion Frankenweenie, his involvement with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, what he thinks of the test-screening process, whether there are deleted scenes from older films like Ed Wood, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, and Beetlejuice, and his criteria in picking future projects.

Video: Burton on "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"

In this video interview, producer Tim Burton talks about why Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter appealed to him, the similarities to the portrayal of the U.S. president in the film and superheroes like Batman, working with writer Seth Grahame-Smith, director Timur Bekmambetov, and leading actor Benjamin Walker (and what their unique perspectives brought to the film), and more.

Videos: "Vampire Hunter" Cast & Crew Interviews

Here are eight new videos featuring cast and crew members of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter discussing their new film, which will be released in theaters this Friday:

Benjamin Walker:




Anthony Mackie:




Mary Elizabeth Winstead:




Rufus Sewell:




Dominic Cooper:




Director Timur Bekmambetov:




Writer Seth Grahame-Smith:




Producer Jim Lemley:

Video: Burton on "Beetlejuice 2"

Shock Till You Drop spoke with Tim Burton to get a few words on the possibility of making a sequel to Beetlejuice. Here is a transcript of what Burton had to say:

"Seth [Grahame-Smith] is writing something, so we'll see. I love the character but I want to just kind of look at it from a fresh perspective and see what he comes up with. That's like one of my favorite characters I've ever dealt with. [Michael Keaton] is one of the first people I worked with who was so good at improv. That movie, I was very lucky to work with a lot of actors, like him and Catherine O'Hara, who were very good at improv, so that kind of set me on a whole new course. I would love to revisit that character at some point."

Interview: Burton, Grahame-Smith on "Vampire Hunter"

Flicks and Bits interviewed producer Tim Burton and screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith to learn more about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

How did the genesis of the idea for ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ come about for you?

Seth Grahame-Smith: In every book store that I would go to around the country, no matter where it was, there was always the two tables in the front of the store. There was the Vampire books table, and there was the Abraham Lincoln biography table (laughs). I call it the chocolate and peanut butter moment, sort of subconscious inspiration. I started thinking, “People love this, people love Vampires and always have. And people love Abraham Lincoln, especially in the United States.” It just sparked an interesting question, in my mind anyway, which was, “Could you graft a genre story onto this extremely well known, iconic life story of Abraham Lincoln?”


Blending history and reality, iconic history at that, I can imagine that being a difficult task?

Tim Burton: Yeah, ’Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ basically takes the story of Abraham Lincoln, which Seth really went through the history of the life of Lincoln, and linked it up to Vampire mythology. The idea that his mother was killed by a Vampire, how that shaped the rest of his life. The interesting thing about it is that it’s not as far fetched as it sounds. I mean, the idea, the events leading him to be a Vampire Hunter and all the deaths he had in his family, people close to him, it makes a lot of sense and it’s actually a lot more believable than the premise makes it (laughs). That’s what was interesting. We never wanted to make fun of anything, we wanted to treat it seriously and like a human story.

Seth, how did Tim get on board with this project?

Seth Grahame-Smith: Tim was interested in what I had next and he read the proposal for ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.’ The next thing I know I get a call out of nowhere while I’m writing the book, that went, “Tim Burton wants to meet with you about producing your book as a movie.” That blew my mind wide open (laughs). And so I was like, “Yeah, I think I can fit that into my schedule.” (Laughs) The next thing I know, he had produced a film called ‘9’ with Jim Lemley and Timur Bekmambetov, so the three of them already had a working relationship. Then before I know it, I’m in a room talking to these three producers.

Tim Burton: I had first heard the idea even before Seth had written the book. I just heard the title, ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,’ all of a sudden my mind just went into overdrive. It took me back to the era of films that I grew up in, in the 60s, early 70s, where there was a weird mash up of movies. I remember things like ’Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde,’ you got these weird mix-ups of horror films. It just sounded to me the kind of a movie that I wanted to see, it really reminded me of that era. It had a crazy energy to it, a weird juxtaposition of things.

What do you think Timur Bekmambetov brought to your story?

Seth Grahame-Smith: Timur challenges you to go further. No matter how far you think you’ve gone, Timur will think about it and say, “No, I think we can go further.” What that means is that we can go further in the layers of the story, we can go further in the meaning of a piece of voiceover, we can go further in the bigness of a set piece. Some people are “less is more” people, Timur is a “more is more” kinda guy (laughs).

There’s an interesting superhero-esque duality to Abraham Lincoln in this story?

Tim Burton: Yeah. We talked about the idea of it very much mirroring the classic, comic book superhero mythology. In some cases he’s not that dissimilar from Batman in the sense of him having a dual day job as President and a night job as a Vampire Hunter. The duality of those kind of characters, that again was something that was really important. To keep the human quality of him, but then explore the mythological, superhero nature of how we perceive Abraham Lincoln. Mix those two together and that’s what we have here.

How do you hope audiences will react to ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’?

Seth Grahame-Smith: My hope is that audiences take away a couple of things. Number one, I hope they have fun and I hope they enjoy the craziness of it all. But beyond that I hope that they take away even the slightest appreciation for the things that the real man, the real Abraham Lincoln went through in his life. If anything I hope that maybe a few of them will be inspired to go and check out a little bit more about Abraham Lincoln. I think that they’ll be surprised that when they do, they will see that he was every bit the superhero we portrayed him as, only in a different way.

Video: Walker, Grahame-Smith on "Vampire Hunter," "Beetlejuice 2"

The Reel Bits has posted this video interview with actor Benjamin Walker and screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith. The two men discuss their latest project, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. The pair talk about treating the actual historical figure of President Lincoln with respect in this amusing fictional mash-up, Walker's preparation for the role, how Lincoln historians have responded to this film, and more.

Grahame-Smith also talks about the possible Beetlejuice sequel that he is currently developing with Warner Bros. Grahame-Smith explained that he has met with both Tim Burton and Michael Keaton to discuss the possibility of making a sequel to the 1988 comedy, but stressed that nobody wants to do the project simply to cash in on a familiar name. He reassured the interviewer that if the sequel is never made, it's because they "couldn't do it right."

Video: Seth Grahame-Smith on "Dark Shadows," "Vampire Hunter"

Writer Seth Grahame-Smith joined Harry Knowles for a discussion on movie vampires and making Dark Shadows and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter with Tim Burton. They discuss writing for different characters, researching and adapting the source material, and the ultimate showdown: Barnabas Collins vs. Honest Abe. Grahame-Smith appears at about three minutes in:

Grahame-Smith on Challenges of Adapting "Dark Shadows"

Screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith talked about the difficulties of adapting the original television soap opera Dark Shadows with over 1,200 episodes into a single feature-length film:

"When I came into it, there had been materials that were given to me, DVDs of compilations that actual Dark Shadows experts had put together, like, these are the seminal moments. I was given book of characters and plot lines and just studied them. And then, I remember we had our first meeting — Tim [Burton] and Johnny [Depp] and I — [and] just sat around a table and started talking about the things that they loved about the show and talking about moments that would be fun to explore."

Grahame-Smith also said that Depp already had a certain style in mind for his performance of the vampire Barnabas Collins:

"I remember, that first meeting, Johnny was already getting up from the table, sort of pantomiming the rigidity of Barnabas and Tim was already talking about, 'Well what if your fingers were a joint longer,' and Johnny started to then mime touching things... So a lot actually was born in those early meetings early on and what I needed to know about the tone I relied on them because they were there watching the show as kids and loving the show and they still had that knowledge of it and that love for it."

Videos: Coverage of "Dark Shadows" World Premiere

(Matt Sayles / Associated Press / May 7, 2012)

Dark Shadows had its world premiere in Hollywood on Monday evening. The Los Angeles Times has some coverage of the event, including interviews and comments from the cast and crew.

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp appeared on the black carpet. Cast members remarked on just how in sync the duo were on set.



"You can kind of tell that they seem to have a shorthand," Depp's costar Jackie Earle Haley said. "It's fun watching them clown around late at night when they kind of get tired and a little bit giddy. They start cracking up and telling stupid little jokes, and pretty soon the entire crew is doing it."



So what does one of the most famous men in the business find funny? Fart jokes, apparently.

"[Johnny and Tim] are like best schoolyard chums in a way. They bring out this very excitable, boyish quality in each other," explained Seth Grahame-Smith, who wrote the screenplay for the film, based on the 1960s soap opera of the same name. "They become 10-year-old boys and laugh and make fart jokes."

Famed rock musician Alice Cooper was also on the black carpet. Cooper has a cameo in the film, playing himself in 1972.

"They decided that they were going to do a computerized thing where they make me [look like I'm from] 1972," the musician said. "And I said, 'Well, don't make me look younger. In '72, I was a mess. I looked 20 years older in '72 than I do now.'"

Burton, Depp on "Dark Shadows"

Collider recently spoke with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. In this interview, the two discussed numerous topics relating to Dark Shadows, including how they decided to make this project, Depp's role as a producer, whether or not they might do a sequel, playing a vampire and Depp's influences in taking the part, and much more:

Question: Tim, can you talk about Johnny Depp bringing this to your attention and getting this project going?

TIM BURTON: We’ve talked about it for many years, but this was the first project that I ever remember Johnny saying that he’d wanted to play this ever since he was a little boy.

JOHNNY DEPP: Just a wee tike.

BURTON: He knew Barnabas Collins before he knew his own father.

DEPP: Pretty much.

BURTON: It was one of those things where the show had a lot of impact for some of us. Johnny, Michelle [Pfeiffer] and I were there at the time it came out, and we just recall it being a very strong, interesting property. This was something that Johnny had had for a long time.

Johnny, as a producer, what did you want to make sure you got across with this film?

DEPP: It’s impossible to consider myself a producer. I can barely produce an English muffin, in the morning. That’s the producer [in me]. But, just as a fan of the show, our initial conversation about the thing was during Sweeney Todd, where I just blurted out, in mid-conversation, “God, we should do a vampire movie together, where you have a vampire that looks like a vampire.” Dark Shadows was looming on the periphery, and then Tim and I started talking about it. When we got together, Tim and I started figuring out how it should be shaped. And then, (screenwriter) Seth [Grahame-Smith] came on board and the three of us just riffed. One thing led to another, and it basically dictated to us what it wanted to be, in a sense, certainly with Tim at the forefront, leading the troops.

What were the key elements from the original series that you wanted to carry over to this film?

BURTON: It’s a tricky tone and we all recognize that. When we talked about Dark Shadows, part of its appeal was the weird nature of all the elements that went into it. It was very serious, but it was on in the afternoon, on a daily basis. There were certain reasons why we loved the show, but you couldn’t necessarily adopt to a film. It was the weirdest challenge to get the acting tone and the soap opera nature of the tone. That’s a weird thing to go for in a Hollywood movie. It’s not like you can go to a studio and go, “We want to do weird soap opera acting.” They go, “Oh, great! Whatever that means.” That’s why I was so grateful to all of the cast. Even the ones that didn’t know the show, got into the spirit of it. What made it Dark Shadows was trying to capture the spirit of what the show was.

Johnny, what was the key to playing Barnabas Collins?

DEPP: There is some kind of thread throughout all these characters. The idea of this very elegant, upper-echelon, well-schooled gentleman, who was cursed in the 18th Century and is brought back to the most surreal era of our time – the 1970s, with 1972 – and how he would react to things and how radically different things were, not just with regard to technology and automobiles, but actual items of enjoyment for people, like pet rocks, fake flowers, plastic fruit, troll dolls, lava lamps and macrame owls. Those were my favorite.

What do you think people find so tempting about vampires?

DEPP: It’s a strange thing because, as a child, I certainly had a fascination with monsters and vampires, as did Tim. There’s this darkness, this mystery, this intrigue. And then, as you get older, you recognize the erotic nature of the vampire and the idea of the undead. What was most interesting, in terms of Barnabas, was the combination. It was a real challenge, probably more for Tim than me, to make that vampire, who is clearly a vampire, fit back into this odd society and this dysfunctional family, and I think he did it rather seamlessly.

Tim, what was it like to re-team with Michelle Pfeiffer, for the first time in 20 years, since Batman Returns?

BURTON: It was weird because it reminded me how much I loved working with Michelle. It was a long time ago, but it just flooded back. I never really watch the movies again, but how impressed I remember being with Michelle just flooded back. She learned how to use a whip and jump around on roofs in high-heeled shoes, let live birds fly out of her mouth, and let cats eat her. It was very impressive stuff. So, it was a real joy to get a call from Michelle [before there was even a script] and find out that she was a closet Dark Shadows fan. I knew she was weird, but that confirmed the whole situation. It was great. Michelle and Johnny and I, we were the only ones of the cast that knew Dark Shadows. You can’t really show Dark Shadows to anybody else that doesn’t know it ‘cause they’d probably run screaming out of the room. It was nice that Michelle, playing the head of the family, was a fan. It just made me realize how much I enjoyed working with her. But, she did have trouble walking down the stairs in this movie. Some people’s powers diminish, at some point.

Johnny, what was it like, the first time you had to bite someone in the film?

BURTON: Yeah, how was your bite on that big construction worker? Did you enjoy that?

DEPP: Well, going back to the erotic nature of vampires, I felt as though I was biting one of the Village People.

BURTON: And then, he went on to the biker and the cowboy.

DEPP: And the cop. No. When I had the fangs in, I wanted to be a little bit careful that I didn’t actually pierce the jugular. It was kind of like my experience shaving Alan Rickman (in Sweeney Todd), which, by the way, neither of us want to do again, especially Alan.

Johnny, actor Chris Sarandon said that he felt sorry for you for having to wear the vampire nails because he had such a hard time with it when he did Fright Night. How was it for you to have to wear them?

DEPP: There are many more reasons to feel sorry for me. We can go through them now, or we can just cuddle after. We can have a big group cuddle, and all get greasy and weird. In every film that I’ve been lucky enough to do with Tim, there’s always some form of torture. The nails were Tim’s idea. They were the length of the fingers. But, it was okay because I had a troupe of people who would help me go to the bathroom. They had to have treatment afterwards, but they’re okay now. That is true.

How much of your physicality for Barnabas came from watching Jonathan Frid, and was there also some Nosferatu influence?

DEPP: Approaching Barnabas, even in the early days of trying to explore the possibilities of the character, no matter where you went in your head, if you tried to veer away from the original Jonathan Frid character, it was apparent to both Tim and myself that it had to be rooted in Jonathan Frid’s character of Barnabas. It just had to be. It was so classic, in the classic monster, Fangoria magazine way. In terms of that, when Jonathan was playing Barnabas, there was a rigidity to him, like he had a pole of the back and this elegance that was always there. Tim and I talked early on that a vampire should look like a vampire. It was a rebellion against vampires that look like underwear models. There was a bit of Nosferatu in there, too.

What was it like to use a cane for this character?

DEPP: The cane was one of the left-over things from the series. It’s pretty much the same design. It’s slightly altered. It’s not a silver-tipped cane because my hand would have burst into flame.

How was it to have the original cast on the set?

DEPP: Well, it was great! It was great of Tim to bring them into the fold. It was our way of saluting them, and Jonathan was terrific. He had written me a letter, a couple of years before, and signed a photograph to me, passing the baton to Barnabas, which I thought was very sweet. He had his original Barnabas cane with him and I wasn’t sure, when he actually saw me, if he was going to attack me with it, but he didn’t.

BURTON: It’s like having the Pope come visit. For us, part of the reason we were there was because those people inspired us, so it was nice to see them back in their early ‘70s clothing.

Tim, with such a big cast, what deleted scenes might be on the DVD?

BURTON: There’s stuff that we cut out. Each actor will have all of their best scenes that I’ve cut out of the film in there. No. I think there will be some stuff on it because, with the nature of it being a soap opera, we cut out stuff, but all the actors were great, so I think I’m going to look at having scenes that aren’t in the film. Because the actors did such a great job and because of the soap opera nature of it, we’ll probably have some stuff on there.

Johnny, after working on Dark Shadows, was the influence of Dan Curtis what led you to want to do The Night Stalker?

DEPP: From Dark Shadows, The Night Stalker appeared, and it was a show that I really loved. Again, there’s this weird tone to it. This reporter becomes a detective in these really odd situations. Yeah, Dan Curtis was a great, great influence.

Since this is not material that current movie audiences are familiar with, did you worry about whether the interest would be there?

BURTON: Going into this movie, you don’t go into it going, “Oh, Dark Shadows, what an easy peasy idea.” It’s not like you go into it thinking that. It’s actually a much more strange challenge.

There’s always a lot of pressure for summer movies to perform. Do you hope this film reaches beyond its specific niche audience and is seen by a larger group of people?

BURTON: There are Dark Shadows fans, and then there’s everybody else. You can’t really make it with projecting what you think it’s going to be. First of all, we made a movie that we wanted to see, and then you just hope for the best.

The ending of this lends itself to a possible sequel. Did you always think that this could be a possible start to a franchise?

BURTON: No. Because of the nature of it being like a soap opera, that was the structure. It wasn’t a conscious decision. First of all, it’s a bit presumptuous to think that. If something works out, that’s one thing, but you can’t ever predict that. That had more to do with the soap opera structure of it.

Johnny, people have said that you’re in this Marlon Brando phase of your career, making these very eccentric characters come to life. Having directed and worked with Marlon Brando, do you see that as a valid comparison?

DEPP: I couldn’t imagine my name and Marlon’s in the same sentence, in terms of the work. He was a great friend of mine, and certainly a great inspiration and a great mentor. I don’t know.

If you had to stay one of your characters for the rest of your life, who would it be?

DEPP: Probably the Earl of Rochester (from The Libertine).

Seth Grahame-Smith on "Night of the Living," "Beetlejuice" Sequel

Shock Till You Drop spoke with writer Seth Grahame-Smith. The ever-busy screenwriter/author/executive producer gave a few brief words on two Tim Burton projects in development: the possible Beetlejuice sequel and a new stop-motion animated film, Night of the Living.

On the Beetlejuice sequel: "Everyone is waiting for me to get my ass in gear," Grahame-Smith said. "I just finished a script called Night of the Living, and I'm giving it to Tim this weekend. And I'm moving now into adapting Unholy Night [his latest book], which I have to deliver to Warner Bros. I've got to do this, then I'm going around the world for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, so I'll be writing Unholy Night on the plane and in hotel rooms."

On Night of the Living, which is about humans terrorizing undead creatures, a reversal of Night of the Living Dead: "[It's] not just zombies. Let me put it this way, Tim and I are big fans of classic movie monsters. The title pretty much where you're going to be at. Plus, it's a Tim Burton stop motion-animated movie. That movie for me is my love letter to all of the movies I grew up on."

Burton on "Big Eyes," "Pinocchio," "Beetlejuice" Sequel

Shock Till You Drop recently spoke with Tim Burton. The ever-busy filmmaker was asked about three projects that are either in development or pre-production. Nothing particularly groundbreaking was learned, but it does show that these projects are on Burton's radar:

On the possible Beetlejuice sequel: “Seth [Grahame-Smith] is writing something. I just told him because I liked the character, I just thought I’d have a better response if he has ideas about it to just let him [work on it]." He continued: "I don’t know if I’d ever know a good script if it bit me in the face, but I know what I like."

On an adaptation of Pinocchio that Burton is attached to direct at Warner Bros., from a script by Bryan Fuller, and which might have Robert Downey, Jr. in the lead: "I’m very busy aren’t I? It’s kind of embarrassing. I’ve got three movies [coming out this year]. I’m sick of me already. So, we’ll let these come out, then I’ll go away and you guys can deal with other people."

On Big Eyes, a biographical film about artists Margaret and Walter Keane starring Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds that Burton is producing, and is currently in pre-production: "Oh, I don’t know. There are a lot of projects in the works, but as you can see when something is 10 years in the making, you’re never quite sure when it’s happening."

Video: New "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" Featurette

A new Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter featurette is online, with new footage and a discussion between Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov, and Seth Grahame-Smith:

Video: Burton Didn't Consider "Dark Shadows" a Comedy

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

In an interview with MTV News, Tim Burton explained the recent reactions to the trailer for Dark Shadows. He expressed that he didn't consider the film to be just a goofy comedy. "Everything that's in [the trailer] is in the movie," Burton told MTV News. "It's a funny film for me, because I never considered it a comedy. I was always trying to capture the weird vibe of 'Dark Shadows,' which is a weird thing to try to capture. It was a weird daytime soap opera."

"It's not like I'm being campy with it or anything," Burton said. "The guy's been locked in a box for 200 years, and [when] he comes out ... something weird is going to happen."

Burton also talked about the interviewer's comparisons to Edward Scissorhands. "Edward Scissorhands was more of a naive character. Barnabas has been around the block a few times," Burton told MTV News with a laugh. "There is something about a character who doesn't quite fit into the world, which is similar, just in this case, he's been around a long time."

He also briefly responds to questions regarding a sequel to Beetlejuice, and whether or not he would make another Batman or Pee-wee movie. "I think I have enough on my plate," the very busy filmmaker replied.

Video: "Dark Shadows" Behind-the-Scenes Featurette Explores Vampires

A new behind-the-scenes featurette for Dark Shadows has surfaced online. This new video, Explore the Legend of the Vampire, investigates a long history of influential vampires in film and television, such as Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi, Max Schreck, and Jonathan Frid (the original Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows). We also get a chance to see plenty of new footage, including legendary actor (and former Dracula) Christopher Lee in the movie. Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, actor Jackie Earle Haley, and screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith contribute their thoughts. Beware -- this video contains loads of SPOILERS!!:

Grahame-Smith on Future Burton Stop-Motion Film

The Hollywood Reporter recently spoke with writer Seth Grahame-Smith. Grahame-Smith talked about several forthcoming projects, including a script he is writing for Tim Burton for a new stop-motion animated film, currently titled, Night of the Living.

Grahame-Smith said, "I'm right in the middle of writing an animated movie for Tim Burton right now called Night of the Living." He continued: "Night of the Living is an idea I have had around for years that I'm doing with Tim Burton. When we were shooting Dark Shadows last year I worked up the nerve to tell Tim about it because I always thought it would make a good movie. When I saw what he had done with Frankweenie and Corpse Bride, it always struck me as a great idea for that form. I'm writing it at Warner's Bros. for him (as a stop-motion monster movie). As soon I'm done with that draft, I'll move into Unholy Night, probably in a matter of weeks."

He also reiterated his plans to write a script for a Beetlejuice sequel. "The first opportunity to tackle that will probably be later this year," he said.

Video Interview: Bekmambetov, Grahame-Smith on "Vampire Hunter"

Comic Book Resources has posted a video interview with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter director Timur Bekmambetov and writer/executive producer Seth Grahame-Smith. They discuss how Tim Burton learned about the story and decided to make a film based on Grahame-Smith's original book, why Bekmambetov gravitated to the premise, and how Abraham Lincoln has a superhero-style origin story, among other topics: