What's going on with Beetlejuice 2?

Hollywood's been threatening to make this movie for years, and less than 18 months ago Tim Burton himself claimed that the movie was definitely a go, that he'd be directing, and that Winona Ryder would be returning as Lydia Deetz. This report followed many, many other confirmations - from Ryder, Burton and various other people involved with the project - that the film was on its way to happening.

Then, earlier today, a report on ShowbizSpy began making the rounds. In the report, Burton is quoted as saying the following:

"The film is a go and has been approved by the Warner Bros. team, we have talked with the cast members we wanted for the film and they are all on board, this includes both Winona and Michael. We have the script in hand everything is in place all we need to do now is get ready to start filming.”

Despite the fact that this quote seems to confirm something we've already known for some time, it turns out that the quote is...well, depending on who you want to believe, it's either total bullshit or has since been retracted by Burton. The Independent debunked ShowbizSpy's report here, saying:

"It turns out those eagerly anticipating a Beetlejuice sequel are having to wait a while longer; we received word from Tim Burton's spokesperson who said the following: "I rep Tim Burton and wanted to let you know that Tim did not provide a statement to confirm Beetlejuice 2 as the movie is not in development. Tim’s focus is entirely on Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children and developing Dumbo."

So now we didn't know what to believe. ShowbizSpy amended their original post with a similar update, but...well, look, here's what they said. See if you can make heads or tails of it:

[UPDATE] – A rep has gotten in contact with us and stated “Tim Burton did not confirm Beetlejuice 2 as the movie is not in development. Tim’s focus is entirely on Miss Preegrine’s Home For Peculiar Children set for a September 30 2016 release and developing Dumbo“. That is all fine and we complied with the reps request to post their comment, however we did not say it was in development. We would also like to note thatWarner Bros. hired writers David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith to work on a sequel, and over the past year, both Ryder and Keaton have confirmed their participation according to Variety. So, it would seem there is something fishy going on here.

Yes, "something fishy" is definitely going on here. Was ShowbizSpy's original Burton quote ("everything is in place all we need to do now is get ready to start filming") total bullshit? I'm inclined to think that it is, but if so, why is Tim Burton saying that Beetlejuice 2 isn't in development? That's been the case for years now, and there's been no small amount of digital ink spilled in the process of documenting every mention of it during that time.

Bottom line? No idea what's going on with this thing, but we'll keep you informed as updates occur. While we're waiting on clarification to arrive, I suggest debating whether or not Beetlejuice 2 is even a good idea in the comments below.