Director Tim Burton may return to one of the characters that defined his early career: The Wrap and Schmoes Know are reporting that he is currently in negotiations to direct Beetlejuice 2. The 1988 original was a horror-comedy featuring Michael Keaton as a ghoul hired by a recently deceased couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) to rid their home of its new human inhabitants. According to the report, Keaton is also expected to return to play the titular character, working from a script by Seth Grahame-Smith (Dark Shadows).

Coming off 1985's Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice allowed Burton to fully embrace his own spooky visual sensibilities — paving the way for his take on the Dark Knight in 1989's Batman. Despite the interest, it appears the new sequel likely won't be the next movie Burton makes, but it does outline a trend as the director has begun to return to some of his touchstone creative achievements in recent years. Last year's Frankeweenie was an animated feature version of the short film he made at the very start of his career — all the way back in 1984.